Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Lithospermum cobrense, Smooththroat Stoneseed

Lithospermum cobrense, Smooththroat Stoneseed, Southwest Desert Flora Lithospermum cobrense, Smooththroat Stoneseed, Southwest Desert Flora Lithospermum cobrense, Smooththroat Stoneseed, Southwest Desert Flora Lithospermum cobrense, Smooththroat Stoneseed, Southwest Desert Flora


Scientific Name: Lithospermum cobrense
Common Name: Smooththroat Stoneseed
Also Called: Smooth Pucoon, Smooththroat Gromwell
Family: Boraginaceae, Forget-Me-Not Family
Synonyms: ()
Status: Native
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 12 inches or more.
Growth Form: Forb/herb; erect, single or multiple stems.
Leaves: Green; basal leaves, linear, revolute (sides rolled under) matted pubescence.
Flower Color: Yellow; flowers in small clusters on tips of branches, flowering along semi-coiled inflorescence, corolla with rounded lobes, fruit a nutlet.
Flowering Season: July to August.
Elevation: 5,000 to 9,000 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Higher elevations mostly in Pine habitats.

Recorded Range: Relatively rare in the United States, Lithospermum cobrense is found in AZ, NM and TX. It is also native to northern Mexico. In Arizona, it is found in the northern and southern parts of the state but few records in Colorado River counties.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Lithospermum cobrense.

U.S. Weed Information: No data available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No data available.
Wetland Indicator: No data available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No data available.

Genus Information: 18 species in Lithospermum throughout the United States and all of Canada. 6 species in Arizona. Genus generally referred to as Stoneseeds.

Comments: The bright yellow flowers may actually be somewhat sterile with pollination coming from much smaller inconspicuous flowers (cleistogamous) developing later in the season.

Date Profile Completed: 10/31/2014, rev. 1/7/2015, 07/20/2015, updated format 10/11/2017
References:
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database – ITIS search
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California.
Native Plant Information Network, NPIN (2013). Published on the Internet http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ [accessed: 10/31/2014]. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas, Austin, TX.
1993, The Jepson Manual, Citation: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange/I_treat_indexes.html (accessed 1/7/2015)
SEINet for synonyms, scientific names and recorded geographic locations, http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/.