Lithospermum latifolium (American Gromwell)
Also known as: | American Stoneseed, Broad-leaved Gromwell |
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Genus: | Lithospermum |
Family: | Boraginaceae (Borage) |
Life cycle: | perennial |
Origin: | native |
Habitat: | part shade, shade; rich woods, thickets, shaded river banks |
Bloom season: | May - June |
Plant height: | 16 to 30 inches |
Wetland Indicator Status: | none |
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): | |
National distribution (click map to enlarge): |
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Detailed Information
Flower:
Single, short-stalked flowers in the upper leaf axils and at the tips of branching stems. Flowers are ¼ to 1/3 inch across, pale yellow to creamy white, with 5 oval petals fused at the base and forming a short tube. Inside the tube are 5 stamens surrounding a short style.
The calyx behind the flower has 5 narrow, hairy lobes about as long as the tube. Branches elongate with maturity, with flowers mostly open at the end of a branch while fruit forms in the axils below it.
Leaves and stems:
Leaves are alternate, 2 to 5 inches long and ¾ to 2 inches wide, lance to egg-shaped, toothless, tapering to a pointed tip, with prominent veins and little or no stalk. The upper leaf surface is darker green with sparse scattered hairs, the lower surface lighter green with short, dense white hairs. Stems are light green and covered in short, stiff hairs. Plants are erect at the base, typically with spreading arch-like branches in the upper plant, but may be unbranched.
Fruit:
Each flower is replaced by a shiny, hard, white nutlet, generally oval to egg-shaped and 1/8 to 1/6 inch long.
Notes:
American Gromwell is the least common of Minnesota's native puccoons with infrequent and scattered populations, mostly in east central and southeastern forests and less frequently in scattered woodlots in west central counties. Populations have likely declined over time due to loss of its woodland habitat to development, lumbering, agriculture and woodland invasive species like buckthorn and garlic mustard.
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More photos
Photos by K. Chayka and Peter M. Dziuk taken at Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area, Hennepin County. Photos courtesy Brian O'Brien taken at Sakatah Lake State Park, Le Sueur County.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2016-05-06 17:57:07
Found scattered in a few places north of Clearwater Lake.
on: 2016-05-29 07:42:06
There were several plants along the side of the trail shortly after starting to hike in from the parking lot.
on: 2018-01-07 10:06:45
I have found this plant in central Todd County. I have also seen a plant that looks identical to this but with 6 petals instead of five. Since I have found nothing else that looks like this, am I safe to assume that it is also American Gromwell, just with 6 petals?
on: 2018-01-07 11:28:34
Ann, members of the Borage family have 5 petals. A plant with all 6 petaled flowers would be very unusual.
on: 2018-01-08 13:19:26
I understand that borage plants can have isolated 6 petaled blossoms, especially early in the year.
on: 2018-01-09 05:10:15
In your first comment it sounded like the whole plant had 6-petaled flowers, which would be unusual. A random flower having an atypical number of petals is not so unusual. It happens often enough with many species.
on: 2018-09-10 21:23:53
Found a large population of this 20 feet by 20 feet and increasing in an old wooded pasture on 9/8/18 Kandota Township
on: 2020-09-26 23:12:50
Found these on the trail near Mineral Springs Park.
on: 2020-12-20 16:35:17
I've seen this plant in Bradshaw Woods County Park, which is next to the fairgrounds in Le Center.
on: 2021-06-28 06:46:25
Thanks to your site I've ID six American Gromwell "volunteers" in my yard. I live near Quarry Hill Park but have not noticed this plant in the woods. What are this plants benefits for pollinators?
on: 2021-11-01 21:25:05
Hennepin County, Maple Plain-Minnetrista area. In our woods, mesic upland. One plant. Found 10/31/21
on: 2022-05-29 22:45:03
I have this plant on my half-acre suburban yard, which is primarily woodland perennials.
on: 2022-06-16 16:56:29
I have several of these growing in the rock beds on the east north east side of my house. I'm going to try to transplant to a better location after they bloom and let them spread.
on: 2023-11-22 09:12:18
Found in my grandparents woods near Northfield. My dad ide tidied it and said it's the only place he has seen it.
on: 2024-06-03 16:11:17
I found one of these guys in my mother's yard in Eagan, MN. Very cool!