Arrowleaf buckwheat is a tough perennial wildflower of dry, open, rocky ground. From late spring into early summer it raises stout, leafless stalks topped with broad, branching heads of tiny cream or lemon yellow flowers, held well above a low clump of leaves.
The leaves give the plant its name. Each one is shaped like an arrowhead or a heart, green on top and covered in dense white wool underneath, so a clump can look two-toned. The plant grows from a woody taproot with a broad, somewhat shrubby crown, and it is at home on cliffs, rock outcrops and rocky slopes from low elevations nearly up to the subalpine.
The flower heads are compound umbels: small clusters of flowers carried on spokes that branch from a single point, then branch again. They draw a wide variety of insects, including bumblebees and other bees, flies, butterflies, beetles and wasps, so a blooming patch is a good place to watch pollinators at work. Around Mt. Hood, look for it on the drier side of the mountains, especially in sunny, rocky places east of the Cascade crest.
How to identify it
Leaves all grow from the base on long stalks; they are lance-shaped to triangular with a heart-shaped base, green above and densely white-woolly beneath. Stout, leafless flowering stems about 4 to 20 inches tall end in a large, branched umbel of many tiny creamy white or lemon yellow flowers, with narrow bracts where the branches meet.
Look-alikes
Other wild buckwheats carry similar umbrella-like flower heads. The large leaves that are heart-shaped at the base, green on top and white-woolly underneath are the best mark for this one.
Habitat
Dry, open, rocky slopes, outcrops and cliffs, from the lowlands almost up to the subalpine, mainly on the drier east side of the Cascades.
Sightings in the forest
588 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on September 7, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →