22 RANGELANDS 19(3), June 1997

'Umatilla' snow for rangeland restoration in the interior

A.R. Tiedemann, S.M. Lambert, J.R. Carlson, C.J. Perry, N.L. Shaw, B.L. Welch, and C.H. Driver

ative are generally con- Snow buckwheat ( The potential of snow buckwheat for sidered the best option for niveum Dougl. ex. Benth.) is a native revegetation was documented by N materials to restore productivity pioneering in big sagebrush Tiedemann and Driver (1983) and and diversity to degraded rangelands antelope bitterbrushplant communities Zamora and Leier (1993). In the study (McArthur 1988). It is difficult to find of the interior Pacific Northwest of Tiedemann and Driver (1983), snow native plants capable of becoming es- (Figure 1). Cover of snow buckwheat buckwheat established well from local- tablishedfrom seed in dense stands of was measured by Tiedemann (1983) ly collected seed that had been broad- introduced annual species such as while studying the response of bitter- cast seeded into firelines in the late cheatgrass. It has been easier to im- brush to fertilization in north central fall. By the fifth growing season, aver- port species such as crested wheat- . In these big sage- age number of plants ranged from grass to restore perennial grasses on brush/bitterbrushhabitats, snow buck- 8,716 per acre at 1,378 ft elevation to degraded rangelands. Although suc- wheat cover ranged from 3 to 18% 11,656 plants per acre at 2,788 ft ele- cessful, such revegetation has not and frequency from 25 to 100%. Cover vation. Height and ground cover were been without drawbacks. Establish- of snow buckwheat on south aspects greatest at the 1378 ft elevation site. ment of large areas of a single plant was more than twice as great as on The pioneering nature of snow buck- species lowers vegetative diversity west aspects suggesting a preference wheat was evident from the fact that it and may be aesthetically less desir- for arid sites. Prominence of snow established at the 1,378 ft elevation able than a diverse community of na- buckwheat in cheatgrass dominated site in a year in which about half of the tive species. Monocultures also tend sites and on road cuts and fills indi- long-term average precipitation was to have insect and disease problems catesthat the plant is a promising can- received.There was also intense com- that are less prevalent in plant com- didate for revegetationof harsh range- petition from annual mustard plants at munities with greater diversity. land sites. this location. Tiedemann and Driver (1983) also established baseline nutrient require- ments for snow buckwheat. In a pot test (bioassay trial) using nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulfur (S), the plant responded only to nitrogen fertilization, even though the sites where it is found are notably low in both nitrogen and sulfur (Tiedemann 1983). Snow buckwheat is browsed by wild ungulates on steep slopes adjacent to the Columbia River in north-central Washington. Burrell (1982) observed that snow buckwheat comprised a substantial proportion of diets in that area. Use by mule deer was especially heavy on south-facing slopes in late winter and early spring. Characteristics of Snow Buck- wheat. Snow buckwheat is a low growing, much-branched evergreen halfshrub that interior FIg. 1. Snowbuckwheat natural habitat near Wenatchee Wash. grows throughout the Pacific Northwestand eastern to west-

This file was created by scanning the printed publication. Errors identified by the software have been corrected; however, some errors may remain. RANGELANDS 19(3), June 1997 23 central in habitats ranging from late summer and fall. Flowers are also 1.5 to 2 times more variation sagebrush desert to ponderosa pine white when in full bloom, turning pink, among plants within a populationthan forest (Hitchcock et al. 1964) (Figure then brown as ripening occurs. They among populations for all characteris- 2). Stature varies from prostrate and are small, perfect, pedicelled, and tics studied. mat-forming to erect and up to about clustered 3 to 13 per involucre. Delanys measurements of foliar 20 inches tall. The plant is tufted from lnflorescences originate from vegeta- crude protein in 5 native populations a loose woody caudex. Stems are pu- tive shoots across the entire crown indicated spring levels as high as 18% bescent, 11 to 15 inches tall, and and are exerted 4 to 12 inches above with a decline to as low as 6.5% in fall. basal leaves. According to We charted average crude protein for Delany (1986), snow 3 native populations in north-central buckwheat appears to be Washington across 1 growing season insect pollinated during a (Figure 3). At each of the 3 locations, very short flowering sea- a compsite sample of 10 plants was son. She found a variety collected. Samples were separated of insect orders on snow into new leaves, new stems, old buckwheat flowers: leaves, and old stems. Crude protein Hemiptera, , was generally highest in the new Diptera, and Hymen- leaves and lowest in the old stems. In optera. Flowers remain re- new leaves, highest crude protein lev- ceptive to pollination for 2 els (11.5%) occurred from March into to 3 weeks. Insect pollina- early June. This was followed by a tion suggests that the continuous decline to less than 5% by plant is primarily outcross- December. In new stems, crude pro- ing. Fruit is an achene tein was greatest in early May (9.5%). 0.01 to 0.02 inches long, Levels declined rapidly to about 3% by smooth, and angled with mid December. Crude protein contents reticulate texture on the of old leaves and old stems were rela- upper part. Achenes tively constant over the entire sample (seeds) shatter from flow- period. Mid-winter (Dec. 18) crude pro- ers readily at maturity. tein levels (<5% for all plant parts) are In natural habitats, the at the lower end of the range reported plant produces 0.02 to 1.0 by Welch (1989) for a variety of shrubs ounce of seed per plant in late winter. (Delany 1986). Numbers of seed per lb range from Selectionof 'Umatilla'. 585,400 to 616,740 Selection was made after field trials (Tiedemann and Driver of three geographically diverse acces- 1983). Seed germination sions, U-4, U-6, and U-1O. Locations ranged from 42 to 72% in of collection were: U-4 south of Moses Fig. 2. Snow buckwheatis a low growing, much-branched 65 to 70 trials Wash.; U-6 from the Entiat haffshrub. day Lake, evergreen (Delany 1986, Tiede- Valley near the confluence of the mann and Driver 1983, Kelley 1984). Entiat and Columbia Rivers in central branched 2 to 3 times. Basal leaves Seed germination occurred erratically Washington; and U-b from Juniper are numerous with petioles 0.3 to 1.5 during the 65 to 70 day incubation pe- Canyon in Umatilla County, Ore. inches in length. Overwintering, ever- riods. Accessions were outplanted as con- green leaves are small and highly pu- Delany (1986) studied phenology tainer-grown stock at wildiand sites bescent, formed at each shoot apex in and variation of plant characteristics south of Moses Lake, Wash, near late summer and fall (Delany 1986). among 5 populations of snow buck- Entiat, Wash., near Moro, Ore., and at Early in the spring, shoots begin to wheat in north-centralWashington and the Boise Shrub Garden near Boise, elongate and new leaves arise alter- the Columbia Basin. She observed Id. Seed increase fields of the 3 ac- nately. Fully formed summer leaves significant variation among popula- cessions were also established by the are 1 to 3 inches long, elliptic or ovate, tions for late spring phenology, fall Pullman Plant Materials Center (PMC) obtuse, and white wooly pubescent on flowering phenology, plant diameter, at Central Ferry and Lind, Wash. each side. By mid- to late spring, inflo- seed germination, foliar crude protein Accession U-b was selected for re- rescencesarise and begin to elongate. content, and leaf size. The only char- lease on the basis of performance at The majority of a plant's shoots bear acteristic that did not vary among pop- these locations. Accession U-b an inflorescence. Flowering occurs in ulations was seed size. There was demonstrated greater vigor and was 24 RANGELANDS 19(3), June 1997

Suitabilityfor Wildlife Forage. CRUDE PROTEIN-% Persistent, evergreen foliage is one of the most desirable attributes of the plant for wildlife forage. At low eleva- tion sites on the mule deer winter range, it provides a substantial part of early spring diets of mule deer(Burrell 1982). In mid-March, snow buckwheat comprised a greater proportion of —NEW LEAVES mule deer diets than bitterbrush and +NEW STEMS arrowleaf balsamroot. Overwintering OLD LEAVES leaves (about 5% crude protein) and OLD STEMS newly emergent leaves in March (about 11% crude protein) both con- tribute to the suitability of the plant for 11% crude 2 forage. Although protein is only mid-range for a variety of forage ,, n ' ,k ,'t' '1> plants, (Welch 1989), this is one of the 4 c( , ) b' 4' , '-'/ c I first plants to emerge in the early 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 spring. This may be the reason it SAMPLE DATE makes up a large part of early spring mule deer diets. To assess the nutri- tive value of late fall we mea- 3. seasonalcrude trendsin snow foliage, Fig. Average protein buckwheat in 3 nativepopulations in sured in-vitro of north centralWashington. digestibility leaves of 10 accessions growing at Pullman more robust than the other 2 acces- Areas of Adaptation. Wash. Foliage was collected the last sions with greater plant height and Well-drained silt-loam to sandy soils week in October. In-vitro digestibility width and greater numbers of seed- of the interior Pacific Northwest and ranged from 31 to 43% for these 10 heads. It was not surprising that the western Intermountain areas from accessions. Digestibility of snow buck- accession with the greatest crown basin big sagebrush to ponderosa wheat exceeds that for bitterbrush, spread produced the most seedheads. pine habitats in precipitation ranges (23.5%) in the winter (Welch 1989) but Delany (1986) observed a direct corre- from 6 to 18 inches. Hitchcock et al. is not as high as that for big sagebrush lation between plant width and seed (1964) indicate that it occurs on heavy (55.6%). production. soils, but our observationssuggest In November, 1990, USDA Agricul- that snow buckwheat is best adapted Informationfor Potential Growers. tural Research Service assigned Plant to well-drained soils. Snow buckwheat Breeder and foundation seed and Introduction (P1) number 537595 to was found to inhabit the widest range plants are maintained by the Pullman 'Umatilla' snow buckwheat. The culti- of soil conditions of 6 Eriogonum Plant Materials Center, Pullman, var was identified as Eriogonum species adapted to harsh, arid sites Wash. Seed should be sown in fall niveum by the Washington State studied by Zamora (1994). The plant is with a nitrogen starter fertilizer to pro- University Herbarium, State an excellent ornamental and provides vide 50 lb/acre of elemental nitrogen University, and the USDA Soil blooms at a time when most other (N). Fall seeding is recommended to Conservation Service (now Natural plants have finished flowering (Figure take advantage of natural wet chilling Resources Conservation Service) 4). Irrigation causes the plants to be- (stratification)of the seed through the National PMC. The name 'Umatilla' come leggy and break apart at the winter. Germination tests at the was cleared for release by the U.S. woody caudex after3 or more years of Pullman PMC showed that a short Department of Commerce Patent and growth. It is best suited to ornamental (15—20 day) period of stratification Trademark Office in Oct., 1990. settings that receive little or no supple- may shorten the germination period 'Umatilla' snow buckwheat (accession mental moisture. and improve total germination. The U-b) was released in 1991 for public At the outplanting sites where snow Pullman PMC tested seed production use the USDA by SCS (now NRCS) buckwheat was studied prior to re- for 24, 36, and 48 inch row spacings. and Forest Service, Washington State lease, it was observedto spread readi- The 24 inch spacing produced 33 to University, Washington Department of ly by seed from established plants. 200 % more seed on a per acre basis Wildlife, and Oregon State University This attribute helps assure natural re- than the other two spacings (Kelley as a selected for rangeland generation and recruitment of snow 1988). seeding, wildlife habitat improvement, buckwheat. Seed should be collected when the and critical area plantings. majority of petals have dried to a light RANGELANDS 19(3), June 1997 25

Bitterbrush and Cliffrose in Western North America. USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-152, Intermountain ResearchStation, Ogden, Utah. Welch, B.L. 1989. Nutritive value of shrubs. P. 405-424. In: C.M. McKell (Ed.) The Biology and Utilization of Shrubs. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, Calif. Zamora, B.A. and J.W. Leier. 1993. The potential of snowy buckwheat () for revegetation of xeric mine spoil sites in the Pacific Northwest. In: Abstracts Eighth Wildland Shrub Symposium, Arid Land Restor- ation, Las Vegas Nevada, Oct. 19-21. 1993. Shrub Research Consortium, Provo, Utah. No pages. Zamora, BA. 1994. Use of Eriogonum for reclamation. Hortus Northwest 50(1):9,11, 47.

Fig. 4. Snowbuckwheat isan attractive plant in ornamental settings. Itblooms latein the summer when fewplants are flowering. Authors are with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, 1133 N. Western Ave., brown color. This is the last Literature Cited Wenatchee, Wash. 98801; Natural usually Resources Conservation Service, Pullman, week in October or first week in Wash.; Natural Resources Conservation November in central and southern Burrell, G.C. 1982. Winter diets of mule Service, Ft. Collins, Cob.; Washington Wash. Hand has to deer in relation to bitterbrushabundance. Department of Wildlife, Moses Lake, Wash.; harvesting proved Intermountain Research Station, Boise, be the best method for snow J. Range Manage. 36:508—510. collecting Delany, D. 1986. Natural variation of Idaho.; Intermountain Research Station, buckwheat seed. Seed shattersvery niveum and its relation to Provo, Utah.; Private Consultant, Sequim, Eriogonum Wash., respectively easily upon the slightest plant move- managementof wildlife habitat. M.S. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ment and may present problemsfor Thesis, Univ. of Washington., Seattle, Developmentand release of this plant was commercial harvesting (Kelley 1988). Wash. 160 pages. facilitated by cooperation with the Shrubland A. M. Biology and Restoration Work Unit of the Threshing may be best achieved with Hitchcock, C.L., Cronqulst, USDA Forest Intermountain and J.W. 1964. Service, a miniature hammermill operating at Owenby, Thompson. ResearchStation, Provo, Utah, and the Utah Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Division of Wildlife Resources, Wildlife 600 to 900 rpm. Vigorous threshing Part 2: Salicaceaeto the seed coat and result Saxifragaceae., Habitat Research Unit, Ephraim, Utah may damage PubI. in Biol. Vol. 17., Univ. of (Pittman RobertsonW-82-R Project).The au- in reduced seed longevity (personal Washington Press, Seattle, Wash. 597 thors appreciate reviews of the manuscript communication with Mr. Mark by Dr. E. Durant McArthur, Shrub Sciences pages. and Mr. Mark of C.A. 1984. 1984 Annual technical Laboratory, Provo, Utah, Stannard, Pullman, PMC). Cleaning Kelley, Stannard, Pullman,Washington PMC. threshed seed can be perfomedwith a report, Pullman Plant Materials Center. small office clipper. USDA Soil Conserv. Serv., Pullman, 'Umatilla' was one three acces- Wash. P. 201—216. of C.A. 1988. 1988 Annual technical sions tested the NRCS at Central Kelley, by report, Pullman Plant Materials Center. Ferry that produced over 100 lb/acre USDA Soil Conserv. Serv., Pullman, of seed (Kelley 1988). Umatilla has Wash. P. 236—270. produced up to 275 lb/acre of cleaned McArthur, E.D. 1988. New plant develop- seed at seed increase fields of the ment in range management.P. 81-112. NRCS at Central Ferry, and Lind In: Tueller, P.1. (Ed.) Vegetationand sci- ence applications for rangeland analysis Wash. Providing pollinators at flower- and Kluwer Academic seed management. ing may improve production. Publishers, Boston. Attraction of snow buckwheat for polli- Tledemann, A.R. and C.H. Driver. 1983. nators may provide opportunities for Snow eriogonum; a native halfshrub to honey producers at a time when little revegetate winter game ranges. else is flowering. Reclamationand RevegetationResearch Latest results from the Pullman PMC 2:31—39. indicate that seed from Tiedemann, A.R. 1983. Response of bit- longevity of terbrush and associated to 'Umatilla' is below plant species expectations. They broadcast nitrogen,phosphorus, and sul- are presently studying the best ways fur fertilization. P. 240—253. In: AR. to harvest, clean, and store snow Tiedemann and K.L. Johnson (Eds.), buckwheat seed. Proc., Research and Management of