''Lithospermum'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the or ...

. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Species are known generally as gromwells or stoneseeds.

Taxonomy

There are about 50, to 60 species in the genus.Cohen, J. I., (2012)
Comparative floral development in ''Lithospermum'' (Boraginaceae) and implications for the evolution and development of heterostyly.
''American Journal of Botany'' 99(5), 797–805. Some species, such as '' Lithospermum arvense'', are sometimes classified in the genus '' Buglossoides'', but that genus is subsumed into ''Lithospermum'' by works such as the ''Flora of China''. In addition, a 2009 molecular study showed that the genus ''Onosmodium'' should be included within ''Lithospermum''. Species include: *'' Lithospermum arvense'' (syn. ''Buglossoides arvensis'') – field gromwell, corn gromwell *'' Lithospermum azuayensis''Weigend, M., et al. (2010)
Five new species of ''Lithospermum'' L.(Boraginaceae tribe Lithospermeae) in Andean South America: another radiation in the Amotape-Huancabamba zone.
''Taxon'' 59(4), 1161–1179. *'' Lithospermum bejariense'' – western marbleseed *''

Lithospermum bolivariensis ''Lithospermum bolivariensis'' is a flowering plant of the family Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. ...

'' *'' Lithospermum californicum'' – California stoneseed *'' Lithospermum calycosum'' – Chinati stoneseed *'' Lithospermum canescens'' – hoary puccoon, Indian-paint *''

Lithospermum caroliniense ''Lithospermum caroliniense'', commonly known as the hairy puccoon or Carolina puccoon or Plains puccoon, is a flowering plant found in the Midwestern United States and Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes. The plant grows in sandhills ...

'' – Carolina gromwell, hairy puccoon *''

Lithospermum cobrense ''Lithospermum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the Americas and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Species are ...

'' – smooththroat stoneseed *''

Lithospermum confine ''Lithospermum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the Americas and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Species are ...

'' – Arizona stoneseed *''

Lithospermum cuzcoensis ''Lithospermum cuzcoensis'' is a flowering plant of the family Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The ...

'' *''

Lithospermum erythrorhizon ''Lithospermum erythrorhizon'', commonly called purple gromwell, red gromwell, red-root gromwell and redroot lithospermum, is a plant species in the genus '' Lithospermum''. It is called ''zǐcǎo'' () in Chinese, ''jichi'' () in Korean, and '' ...

'' – purple gromwell, red-root gromwell, 紫草 ''zicao'' (

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

: zǐcǎo), 紫草 ''murasaki･sō'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

) *''

Lithospermum hancockianum ''Lithospermum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the Americas and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Species are ...

'' *''

Lithospermum incisum ''Lithospermum incisum'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by several common names, including fringed puccoon, narrowleaf stoneseed, fringed gromwell, narrowleaf puccoon, and plains stoneseed. It is native to much of cent ...

'' – narrowleaf stoneseed, fringed gromwell *''

Lithospermum latifolium ''Lithospermum latifolium'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names American gromwell and American stoneseed. Its native range is centered in the Midwestern United States, where it is found in calcareous for ...

'' – American stoneseed *'' Lithospermum leymebambensis'' *'' Lithospermum macbridei'' *''

Lithospermum matamorense ''Lithospermum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the Americas and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Species are ...

'' – rough stoneseed *'' Lithospermum mirabile'' – San Antonio stoneseed *'' Lithospermum molle'' – softhair marbleseed *'' Lithospermum multiflorum'' – manyflowered stoneseed *'' Lithospermum obtusifolium'' – roundleaf stoneseed *'' Lithospermum officinale'' – common gromwell, European stoneseed *'' Lithospermum parksii'' – Parks' stoneseed *'' Lithospermum parviflorum'' – eastern prairie marbleseed *''

Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum ''Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum'' (syn. ''Buglossoides purpurocaerulea''), the purple gromwell, is a herbaceous perennial rhizomatous plant of the genus '' Lithospermum'', belonging to the family Boraginaceae. Etymology The Latin name of the s ...

'' (syn. ''Buglossoides purpurocaerulea'') – purple gromwell *'' Lithospermum rodriguezii'' *'' Lithospermum ruderale'' – western stoneseed, Columbia puccoon, wayside gromwell, whiteweed *'' Lithospermum tuberosum'' – southern stoneseed, tuberous gromwell *'' Lithospermum viride'' – green stoneseed

Ecology

''Lithospermum'' leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

'' Ethmia pusiella'' which has been recorded on ''L. officinale''.

Uses

The dried root of ''Lithospermum erythrorhizon'' is a Chinese herbal medicine with various antiviral and biological activities, including inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). ''

'' is native to Japan, where it has been traditionally used to make a

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

dye. In southwestern North America, a species of this genus was used as a contraceptive by the Shoshone Native American tribe.

Fossil record

petrified In geology, petrifaction or petrification () is the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals. Petrified wood typifies this proce ...

nutlets and nutlet fragments of a ''Lithospermum'' species have been described from the Late Miocene

Ash Hollow Formation The Ash Hollow Formation of the Ogallala Group is a geological formation found in Nebraska and South Dakota. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. It was named after Ash Hollow, Nebraska and can be seen in Ash Hollow State ...

, Ogallala Group, five km south of Martin in Bennett County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. †''Lithospermum dakotense'' sp. nov. shows similarities in size, shape, attachment and

epidermal The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water relea ...

cell patterns to extant ''Lithospermum'' species. The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

nutlets were preserved in various stages of maturity. The fossils closely resemble the nutlets of ''

'' and ''

''.Amer. J. Bot. 74(11): 1690-1693. 1987. A Fossil Lithospermum (Boraginaceae) from the Tertiary of South Dakota by Mark L. Gabel

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q932776 Boraginaceae genera