Eriogonum inflatum – “Desert Trumpet”

Also Known As: Native American Pipeweed
Family: Buckwheat (Polygonaceae)
Form: Annual or biennial herb
Habitat: Sandy soils, washes, roadsides and other disturbed places
Leaves: Round to cordate; basal; usually dessicated by the time flowering commences
Translation: “Eriogonum” is Greek for “woolly joint” and refers to the fuzzy-looking flowers that grow at the stem joints of some species in this genus (but not this one); “inflatum” is Latin for “inflated” and describes the swollen stems.
Notes: The stems photosynthesize so the inflated shape increases the productive area, which is useful since the leaves usually die back by the time flowering starts. The tender leaf tips are edible, with a tangy, sour flavor like Garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosa).
Native American Uses: The Havasupai cooked the greens and used the stems as drinking straws. The Kawaiisu pounded the seeds into meal and made porridge from it. The Navajo and Kayenta used it in a lotion for treating bear or dog bites. The Paiute made pipes from the swollen stems to smoke a mixture of Mistletoe (Phoradendron sp.) and Coyote Tobacco (Nicotiana obtusifolia). The Yavapai also smoked tobacco out the stems.
Animal Associations: Nectar source for the Sonoran Metalmark butterfly and food plant for its larvae, which hide in silk-bound shelters during the day and emerge at night to eat; they can hibernate in cocoons in the inflated stem. Also a nectar source and larval food plant for the Pacific Dotted-Blue butterfly. Jaeger tells us about wasps who “sometimes use the hollow stems as a larder. This the wasp accomplishes by drilling a hole near the top of one of the inflations and filling the lower constriction with small pebbles. Then the tiny wasp will pile in a surprisingly large number of insect larvae, pack them tightly down in the cavity, and lay her eggs upon them. The remaining part of the inflated stem is filled up with more grains of sand to make the storehouse secure. The stored larvae insure an adequate food supply for her offspring.” (This story has confused some naturalists because Jaeger named the genus of the wasp as, “Onyerus,” which was a typo; the actual genus is “Odynerus.”) The inflated stems contain CO2, so insects that lay eggs inside need to bore a ventilation hole so the larvae don’t suffocate.