1.  Athough many wildflower books and floras list inflated and deflated varieties of desert trumpet, this may be incorrect according to A.M. Stone and C.T. Mason, Jr. (Desert Plants, 1975). Stone and Mason studied wild and greenhouse populations of both varieties, and discovered that stem inflation was caused by larval feeding of gall insects, including a lepidopteran (Pyralidae) and a beetle (Mordellidae). According to Stone and Mason, the swollen tissue is produced in response to a chemical or physical irritation by ravenous insect larvae imbedded in the plant's tissues. They concluded that "the taxonomic recognition of the varieties "inflatum" and "deflatum" is not based on a genetic characteristic, but on a monstrosity, and has no validity."

2.  According to the world authority on the genus Eriogonum, Dr. James L. Reveal of the University of Maryland (personal communication, 1998), the swollen stem of E. inflatum var. inflatum is due to high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the solid stem and seems to be related to gas regulation. Although some insects utilize the swollen stem as a larder, the inflation is NOT caused by the larval feeding of gall insects. In fact, during very dry years many populations of var. inflatum will have no or poorly inflated stems. In northeastern Utah and adjacent Colorado, another species E. fusiforme occurs in the tens of millions in a good year, and all have inflated stems even when they are young (and there is no evidence that the inflated stems are caused by insects). The above image clearly shows that E. trichopes can also be added to the list of wild buckwheats with inflated stems.

Cryptobiotic crusts are very beneficial because they hold soils in place and protect the underlying sediments from erosion. They are also an important pioneer stage in succession on bare ground (xerarch succession), thus enabling grasses and herbs to become established.

The left image shows an ascus from the above apothecium that contains 8 colorless ascospores. Spores of Collema are typically septate. Perhaps these spores are immature. Some of them appear to have a faint septum. Magnification 1000x.