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Common Name: Crispleaf Buckwheat

General Information

Eriogonum corymbosum is an evergreen shrub that can grow up to 0.30 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

Western N. America - Nebraska and Kansas to New Mexico, Utah and Arizona.

Habitat

Sandy to gravelly or clayey flats, washes, slopes, outcrops, and cliffs, saltbush, blackbrush, and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper and montane conifer woodlands; 1200-2700 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	0.30 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Pollinators	Bees
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a loose lean gritty well-drained soil in a very sunny position[]. Succeeds in dry soils. Tolerates exposed positions[]. Requires some protection from winter wet[].
A very variable species, it has been divided into a number of distinct varieties[].
Established plants resent root disturbance[], though small plants can be moved successfully[].
A slow growing plant[].
A good bee plant[].

Edible Uses

Leaves and stems - cooked[, , ]. The leaves can be boiled, mixed with water and cornmeal and baked into a bread[].
The stems are boiled, pressed into cakes then dried and eaten with salt[].

Medicinal

A decoction of the leaves, taken three times a day, is a remedy for headache[]. The var glutinosum was most probably used[]. This variety was also used as a treatment for TB, or at least to treat coughs[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a sandy compost in a greenhouse. Sow stored seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse[]. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division in early spring[]. This has to be done with care because the plant resents root disturbance[]. Try to obtain divisions from around the edges of the plants without digging up the whole clump. Tease the divisions out with as much root on them as possible and pot them up. Grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse until they are rooting well and plant them out in the summer.
Cuttings of greenwood with a heel in the summer[].
Cuttings of almost ripe shoots with a heel, mid summer in a frame.