Whorled clusters of small, white flowers bloom on erect flowering stems 1–3-feet tall. Note the slender, woolly, leafless stems that branch 2–3 times in the upper half, and basal spoon-shaped leaves with long petioles (stems).

FLOWERS: June–October. A series of dense whorled clusters (racemes) bloom along densely hairy upper stems; flowers white to pinkish, 1/8-inch wide (2.5–5 mm), 6 petal-like sepals with red to green midstrips, stamens with red anthers extend beyond the petals.

LEAVES: Basal in a crowded rosette. Leaves spoon-shaped with slender petiole (stem) 1 3/4–4-inches long (3–10 cm); blade spreading elliptic to oval or round, 3/4–2 3/8-inches (2–6 cm) long by 3/8–1 1/2-inches (1–4 cm) wide; margin entire, surfaces woolly.

HABITAT: Gravelly, sandy, clay loam soils of plains, meadows, canyons, mesas, hillsides, slopes; sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, ponderosa, fir-aspen forests.

ELEVATION: 6,500–10,500 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, NV, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: About 43 species of buckwheat in NM, many with similar features. The slender spike-like clusters of flowers and spoon-shaped basal leaves help identify this species. Wright’s Buckwheat, E. wrightii, in similar habitats, is shrubby with multiple stems from a matted base.

NM COUNTIES: Western half of NM in mid- to high-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Grant, Los Alamos, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.