Despite its name, Winged Buckwheat is not a type of wheat. As a matter of fact, it isn't even a grain! Winged Buckwheat is a seed that is related to rhubarb whose kernels look similar to grains. Native American communities found a culinary as well as medicinal use for this nutritional plant.
About Winged Buckwheat
Eriogonum alatum is a species of buckwheat that is native to Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Winged Buckwheat is in the Polygonaceae family. They grow in dry, sandy soil, in desert scrublands, grasslands, and in mixed conifer forests and pinyon-juniper- oak woodlands. Winged buckwheat has a single stem that can grow up to five feet tall. It has hairy side branches with basal leaves that alternate on the stem. This stem grows from a basal rosette base made up of hairy leaves that gradually bend into the base. The plant has small lemon-yellow flowers with six pointed petals that extend out from the stem. The flowers bloom from June through October. As the season progresses, they develop yellow-greenish seeds that have three wings. When they mature, the seeds are reddish brown and bloom on the stem in clusters.
Medicinal, Culinary, and Ceremonial Uses
Many Native American communities living in the Great Plains and the American Southwest ate the root of this plant raw or would dry it to save it for later use. The seed was often ground into a powder and made into a mush. Medicinally, the Navajo found many uses for this plant. They made a salve from the roots and used it to treat a rash, they also used a cold infusion of the root to treat diarrhea, bad coughs, and sore gums. Powdered root was mixed with tallow and used as an ointment for an infant's sore navel. The Zuni ate the root as an emetic for stomaches and used an infusion of powered root to relieve aches and pains after a fall. Ceremonially, the Navajo, Ramah used the plant in the Knife Chant and in ceremonies as a life medicine.
The Eriogonum genus was named by botanist, Andre Michaux in 1803 in his book, Flora Boreali-Americana. It was renamed Eriogonum alatum in 1853 by John Torrey where it is the accepted name of the plant in all states except Colorado where it is known as Pterogonum alatum.
The Pter name in Greek means winged. The Ogonum refers to the Eriogonum genus. Alatum is Latin for winged. Erio is the Greek word for wool and gono for knee, referring to the wooly leaves of this plant.
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