[2] One such species came into the news in 2005 when the Mount Diablo buckwheat (Eriogonum truncatum, believed to be extinct) was rediscovered.

[3] Eriogonum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).

Several of these are monophagous, meaning their caterpillars only feed on this genus, sometimes just on a single taxon of Eriogonum.

In some cases, the relationship is so close that Eriogonum and dependent Lepidoptera are in danger of coextinction.

[4] Some varieties of eriogonum, such as California buckwheat were and still are used as medicinal and food crops by Native American tribes.