About Eriogonum inflatum Torr.
Eriogonum inflatum Torr., commonly called desert trumpet, is a perennial plant in the Polygonaceae family. It produces very small yellow or pink flowers, and has an inflated stem just below its branching segments. The genus name Eriogonum comes from the Greek words erion, meaning "wool", and gonu, meaning "joint or knee". This name refers to the hairy or woolly joints found on some species in the genus, but this trait is not particularly present in E. inflatum. This species grows in the Mojave Desert and other North American deserts. Some Native American tribes that originally inhabited areas around the Las Vegas Valley, most commonly the Paiute, traditionally harvested this plant to make makeshift pipes. They remove the stalk at the base, cut the inflated stem bulb in half, and smoke a mixture of Indian tobacco and mistletoe in the pipe primarily for leisure. This plant also makes a brief on-screen appearance in Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 1, at approximately the 3 minute 47 second mark, where the character Neelix is shown examining a picked specimen of E. inflatum.
