WILD BUCKWHEAT (Eri6gonum fasciculaium, Benth). A 

 small shrub, 2 to 3 feet high, with little white or pink flowers 

 borne several in an involucre which is toothed but not spiny- 

 tipped as that of Chorizanthe is, the flowers disposed in dense 

 terminal heads. Leaves narrow, revolute margined, woolly 

 beneath, much fascialed or bunched along the stems. 

 Blooming throughout the spring and summer on mesas and 

 hillsides of Southern California, eastward to Nevada and Ari- 

 zona. 



This is one of the most characteristic plants of the chaparral 

 in Southern California; not only when, in bud and bloom, 

 its massed delicate color lends a special charm to the foothills 

 where it grows, but later also when the creamy tints of the 

 flowers suffused with pink give place to the warm brown of the 

 fruiting heads. It is one of the most cherished of wild flowers 

 by the bees, and the honey of the Wild Buckwheat ranks in 

 excellence only second to the White and Black Sages. Al- 

 though the high tide of its bloom is from April until August, 

 one is pretty sure to find scattering bloom at other seasons, 

 too, even in midwinter. 



The flowering heads have a tendency to dispose themselves 

 in flattish clusters, whence another common name Flat-top. 

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