Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.
Habitat: Deeper soil of shrub-steppe to ponderosa pine forests and rocky ridges at middle elevation in the mountains.
Flowers: May-July
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Not of concern
Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, butterflies, beetles, wasps
Perennial with a branched, woody base forming clumps up to 6 dm. broad and 4 dm. high, generally white-woolly throughout.
Numerous, basal, on petioles several times as long as the blade; blades linear-lanceolate to broadly oblanceolate, grayish-lanate on both surfaces or only sparsely tomentose and much less grayish above.
Peduncles 10-30 cm. long, usually with several leafy bracts about mid-length; inflorescence a compound umbel with narrow bracts at the base; involucres woolly, cup-shaped, the several lobes 2-3 mm. long; tepals white to cream, occasionally pinkish, glabrous externally, with a stipe-like base 1-3 mm. long.
The whorl of bracts at mid-stem is a good identifying feature if they are present, but they are often lacking in Kittitas, Chelan and Douglas Counties. The long, narrow, woolly leaves are distinctive in those areas
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Eriogonum heracleoides in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Eriogonum heracleoides checklist entry
OregonFlora: Eriogonum heracleoides information
E-Flora BC: Eriogonum heracleoides atlas page
CalPhotos: Eriogonum heracleoides photos