Eriogonum allenii S. Watson:
United States (North America)

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Eriogonum allenii is restricted to the Appalachian shale barrens of Virginia (Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Botetourt, Craig, Frederick, Highland, Montgomery, and Shenandoah counties) and West Virginia (Greenbrier, Monroe, and Pendleton counties), where it is local and infrequent, and found in four geographic areas of concentration. The plants are protected at The Nature Conservancy's Slaty Mountain site in Monroe County, West Virginia, and in Douthat State Park in Bath County, Virginia. The species occasionally is cultivated.

Herbs, erect, 3-5(-7) × 0.5-1 dm, tomentose. Stems: caudex absent; aerial flowering stems erect, stout, solid, not fistulose, arising directly from a taproot, 2-4 dm, tomentose. Leaves basal, not in rosettes; petiole 5-15 cm, tomentose to floccose; blade oblong to ovate, (5-)10-15 × 4-8 cm, densely brownish-white-tomentose abaxially, floccose or glabrous and green adaxially, margins entire, plane. Inflorescences compound-umbellate, 10-40(-50) × 8-30(-50) cm; branches tomentose; bracts 3-6, leaflike at proximal node, 1-10(-12) × 0.5-4(-5) cm, often scalelike distally. Involucres 1 per node, campanulate, 3-5(-7) × (4-)5-8 mm, tomentose; teeth 5-7, erect or slightly spreading, 0.8-1.5 mm. Flowers 3-7 mm, including 1-1.5 mm stipelike base; perianth bright yellow, densely pubescent abaxially; tepals dimorphic, those of outer whorl broadly lanceolate to elliptic, 3-6 × 1.5-3 mm, those of inner whorl elliptic to fan-shaped, 4-7 × 2.5-4 mm; stamens exserted, 3-5(-7) mm; filaments pilose proximally. Achenes light brown to brown, 4-6 mm, glabrous except for sparsely pubescent beak.

Flowering Jun-Oct. Rocky shale slopes, oak and pine woodlands; 400-800 m; Va., W.Va.

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure

Comments: Shale barren habitat could be used as borrow areas (Shale is often used for rural road maintenance); Lack of disturbance (succession) is a lesser threat to this species (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).