The flowers are borne in clusters and are white with red midribs and very small. Only known from the Ione formation in western Amador County. Most of the occurrences are in the vicinity of Buena Vista and Ione. One occurrence is further west in the area of Carbondale Mesa. Barren surfaces of the Ione formation.
Surfaces vary from clay to gravel pavements to fissured ironstone.
Disturbed sites like clay pits, spoils piles and abandoned roads are sometimes colonized. Often little if any other vegetation is present. Irish Hill buckwheat, Eriogonum apricum var. However its overall appearance is strikingly different from Apricum Hill buckwheat, because in Irish Hill buckwheat the inflorescences lie along the ground, radiating like spokes from the rootstock and the small basal rosette of leaves. This variety also blooms earlier in the year, June and July.