softhair marbleseed
(Lithospermum parviflorum)
| Conservation Status | IUCN Red List |
not yet assessed |
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NatureServe |
NNR - Unranked SNR - Unranked |
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Minnesota |
not listed |
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| Nativity | Native |
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| Occurrence |
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| Habitat | Moderately dry. Prairies, open woods. Full sun. |
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| Flowering | June to July |
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| Flower Color | Dull white or greenish white |
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| Height | 12″ to 48″ |
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| Photo by Bill Reynolds | |||||||
| Identification | This is a 12″ to 48″ tall, erect or ascending, perennial forb that rises on several stems from a stout, woody root. The stems are erect, and leafy. They often have a few branches above the middle. They are moderately to densely covered with spreading, short and long hairs. Basal leaves are absent and lower leaves withered or absent by the time the plant is in flower.Stem leaves are alternate, stalkless, unlobed, and untoothed. The leaf blades are lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped, ¾″ to 5½″long, and ½″ to 1½″ wide. They are angled or tapered at the base and angled or tapered to a sharp point at the tip. There is a midvein and 2 or 3 pairs of lateral veins that curve toward the leaf tip. The veins are strongly recessed on the upper surface, strongly raised on the lower surface. The upper leaf surface is densely covered with more or less spreading hairs, some of them longer and some shorter. The lower surface is moderately to densely covered with softer hairs, some of them longer and some shorter. The inflorescence is a crowded, one-sided, coiled, unbranched, spike-like cluster (raceme) at the ends of the stem and branches. The shape of the raceme resembles a scorpion’s tail. The flowers are ⅓″ to ⅔″ long, 1½ to 2 times as long as wide, and tubular-shaped, converging to a point near the tip with straight sides along the tip. The 5 petals are dull white or greenish white and hairy. The style protrudes from the floral tube. These flowers mature reproductively well before the petals are developed. The fruit is a white, smooth, dull, marble-like, 1 ⁄16″ to ⅛″ (2.5 to 3 mm) in diameter nutlet. It is flared at the base into a small collar around the attachment point. It remains on the plant throughout the winter. |
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| Similar Species |
Western marbleseed (Lithospermum occidentale) is the western species. It is a shorter plant, reaching only 28″ in height. The leaves are much smaller, no more than 3⅛″ long and ¾″ wide. The nutlet is shiny and over ⅛″ in diameter. It does not have a collar around the attachment point. |
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| Distribution |  |
Sources: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28. | |||||
| Comments | Taxonomy The following reputable and current (online) sources do not agree on the scientific name for this plant. |
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| Lithospermum molle | |||||||
NCBI |
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| Lithospermum occidentale (not differentiated from western marbleseed) | |||||||
BONAP |
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| Lithospermum onosmodium (not differentiated from western marbleseed) | |||||||
| GRIN | |||||||
| Onosmodium bejariense var. hispidissimum | |||||||
ITIS USDA Plants MNTaxa (Minnesota) |
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| The name Lithospermum parviflorum, used on MinnesotaSeasons.com, is from Weakley, et al (see Source below), the source of the most recent taxonomic revision. | |||||||
Source: Weakley, A.S., R.J. LeBlond, B. Sorrie, C.T. Witsell, L.D. Estes, K. Gandhi, K.G. Mathews, and A. Ebihara. 2011. New combinations, rank changes, and nomenclatural and taxonomic comments in the vascular flora of the southeastern United States. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 5: 437-455. |
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| Taxonomy | Family: |
Boraginaceae (borage) |
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Subfamily: |
Boraginoideae |
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| Synonyms | Lithospermum carolinianum Onosmodium bejariense var. hispidissimum Onosmodium hispidissimum Onosmodium hispidissimum var. macrospermum Onosmodium molle ssp. hispidissimum Onosmodium molle var. hispidissimum |
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| Common Names |
hairy false gromwell shaggy false gromwell softhair marbleseed |
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Glossary
raceme
An unbranched, elongated inflorescence with stalked flowers. The flowers mature from the bottom up.
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Bill Reynolds |
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Almost walk right by this plant, til an American Bumble Bee landed on one of the flowers, drawing my attention to the swaying bumble. |
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| Bill Reynolds 6/27/2017 |
Location: Pennington County MN Almost walk right by this plant, til an American Bumble Bee landed on one of the flowers, drawing my attention to the swaying bumble. |
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