General: Shockley's Buckwheat (Eriogonum shockleyi) is a perennial forb that grows as a round mat hugging the ground, a form that leads to another common name: cow-patty buckwheat. The leaves are short, rounded, and covered with a thick layer of dense, white hairs. The flowers are yellow, aging to reddish.

Shockley's Buckwheat is an uncommon component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained gravelly areas on bajadas into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Around Las Vegas, look for Shockley's Buckwheat along Cold Creek Road and up in Basin and Range National Monument.

Family: Buckwheat (Polygonaceae).