Genus Eriogonum: landscaping potential and production issues

Abstract

In 2005, the University of Idaho initiated a native plant domestication program using plants collected in the wild from the interior Intermountain West of the US. Among the species evaluated for landscape potential were many of the perennial species from the genus Eriogonum (family Polygonaceae), subspecies Eucyla and Oligogonum that exhibit superior traits, such as landscape persistence, drought tolerance, long bloom period, compact plant habit, cold hardiness, and for many species, evergreen foliage. Within a 14-y period, 58 species of Eriogonum have been collected and evaluated. Of these, 13 species and 9 additional subspecies taxa have been subject to a domestication protocol and subsequently transferred to the nursery industry. Species within the genus Eriogonum present some unusual domestication, propagation, and marketing challenges. Reduction of genetic variability during domestication affects sexual fertility and limits seed production potential. Damping off and root rots hamper seed propagation. Most species are very difficult to propagate vegetatively. Marketing challenges are largely associated with plant characteristics that reduce impulse buying, including slow growth, limited bloom in pots, and difficulty with maintaining attractive, healthy plants in a nursery environment. In spite of these issues, many species of this genus exhibit superior landscape value for populating water-conserving gardens. This article includes descriptions and photographs of 13 species (19 total taxa) of wild buckwheats.

Love SL. 2020. Genus Eriogonum: landscaping potential and production issues. Native Plants Journal 21(3):312–323.