Naked buckwheat and a honey bee

The naked buckwheat Eriogonum nudum has tall, bare, leafless stems, topped with rounded clusters of white and pale pink flowers. The flowers slowly turn to the color of rust in late summer through autumn.

It is native to the west coast of the United States, growing from wet coastal sea level up through cold and dry elevations of the Sierra Nevada.

Many kinds of bees, such as the honey bee above, as well as beneficial flies and wasps, visit the flowers for nectar and pollen.

Here is the same honey bee on the buckwheat blossom.

Note the flower fly to the lower right, also visiting buckwheat blossoms.

The flowers in the clusters are very lovely and delicate.