Lithospermum caroliniense var. croceum

Native

May to July

Orange to light golden yellow

6″ to 24″

This is a 6″ to 24″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on 1 to 12 or more stems from a stout, woody root.

The stems are erect and usually unbranched, though sometimes branched near the top. They are roughly hairy. The hairs on the stem have small, elevated, blister-like elevations (pustules) at the base.

The leaves are alternate, stalkless, relatively thick, linear to lance-shaped, 1⅛″ to 2⅜″ long, and ⅛″ to ½″ wide. There are usually more than 25 crowded leaves below the inflorescence. They are angled or narrowly rounded at the base and bluntly pointed at the tip. Sometimes there is a minute, sharp point at the tip. There is a single prominent vein and no noticeable lateral veins. The upper and lower surfaces are grayish-green to green and roughly hairy. There are small, elevated, blister-like elevations (pustules) at the base of the hairs on the leaves. The margins are untoothed and have a fringe of soft hairs.

The inflorescence is 1 to 3 leafy, branched, flower clusters at the end of the stem and branches. The flowers at the top bloom first, the lateral flowers progressively later. The clusters are dense at first, elongate as the lateral flowers bloom, eventually becoming coiled and 2″ to 10″ long.

The flowers are ½″ to 1″ wide and funnel-shaped. There are no closed, self-fertilizing (cleistogamous) flowers. The sepals are fused at the base into a short, cup-like structure (calyx) then separated into 5 linear, flat, ¼″ to ½″ long lobes. The 5 petals are orange to yellow. They are fused at the base into a 9 ⁄16″ to 1″ long floral tube, then separated into 5 spreading, ⅝″ to 1″ wide lobes. The lobes are not fringed. There are 5 stamens. The flowers are subtended by bracts that are much longer than the calyx. There is no floral scent.

The fruits are 1 to 4 egg-shaped, ⅛″ long, white, smooth, shiny, hard nutlets. Each nutlet contains 1 seed.

Fringed puccoon (Lithospermum incis um) inflorescence does not elongate as the season progresses. The floral tube is much longer, ¾″ to 2″ long. In the late spring and summer it becomes much branched with cleistogamous flowers in the leaf axils of the new branches.

Hoary puccoon (Lithospermum canescens) rises on 5 or fewer stems. The stems are less leafy. The leaves are densely, softly hairy, not rough. The hairs on the stem and leaves are not pustule-based, though this may not be apparent without a hand lens. The inflorescence, when fully elongated, is much shorter, 1″ to 4″ long. The flowers are smaller, ⅓″ to ½″ wide. The calyx lobes are shorter, ⅛″ to ¼″ long when the plant is in full flower. The floral tube is shorter, ¼″ to ⅜″ long. The fruit is cream-colored, not white.