Plant produces a thin, multi-branched stem which curves in on itself to form a rounded, tangled mass resembling a bird nest, giving it the common name, birdnest buckwheat.
Stems usually spreading; leaves basal; leaf blades rounded to heart-shaped, very hairy; sepals and petals pale yellow or yellow, rarely creamy white, turn red, outer broadly fan-shaped, stamens not protruding; flowers along diffused stems.
Habitat
Sandy to gravelly washes, flats, and slopes, saltbush, greasewood, creosote bush, blackbrush, and sagebrush communities, pinyon and/or juniper woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
Tiny, 1/16 to 1/8 inch clusters of flowers hang at nodes along thin branches of the stem; petals pale yellow or yellow, rarely creamy white, becoming red, without hairs, tepals (petals and sepals) of outer whorl broadly fan-shaped, inner pointed at base.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Stems mostly erect and vertical; covered with long hairs or woolly tufts to 1 inch long; leaves basal; blade rounded to heart-shaped, to 3/4 inch in width and length; dense white hairs on leaf bottom, hairy and occasionally greenish on top.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Achenes light brown, triangular, about 1/16 inch long.