BORAGE FAMILY (Borraginaceae)
SOUTHERN HELIOTROPE BINDWEED HELIOTROPE
Leaves usually alternate; flowers often in curled clusters; sepals 5; petals 5, united; stamens 5, on corolla-tube; ovary often deeply 4-lobed; fruit a drupe or of 4 nutlets.
Southern Heliotrope (Cochranea anchusaefolia) grows in limestone soil from Central Texas to Florida and tropical America. It may often be found from spring to fall in the shelter of mesquite or prickly pear. The white-flowered sea-heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) is very abundant in saline soil in South and West Texas. Plains heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum) does not have curled clusters of flowers but has a few small white ones borne on short branches. It is widespread in the South-central United States.
Bindweed Heliotrope (Heliotropium convolvulaceum) has white flowers quite similar to those of the bindweed, about one inch broad. It is found in sandy soil in South and West Texas to California and Nebraska from spring to fall. The plant has widely branching stems, about a foot long, and the foliage is somewhat rough-hairy. The heliotropes get their name from Greek words which mean “sunturning.”
GOLDEN PUCCOON
Golden Puccoon. Narrow-Leaved Puccoon (Lithospermum linearifolium) is another harbinger of spring on the prairies. The scattered plants may be found throughout Texas to British Columbia and Indiana. Several slender stems grow from a long, thick black root. The plant gets its name from the Greek word meaning “stone-seed” and refers to the hard nutlets of the fruit. In the narrow-leaved puccoon, the nutlets are ovoid, white, shining, and more or less pitted. The flowers have a narrow tube with 5 spreading lobes which have crinkled margins.
Orange Puccoon (Lithospermum gmelinii) is a striking woodland plant of the Eastern States which is widespread in East Texas. It can be easily identified by its showy yellow-orange flowers. The clustered stems, 1-1½ feet high, grow from a deep root. It blooms in April and May.
Most of the puccoons have a red root from which a dye is obtained. Some of the European forms have blue flowers and are known in cultivation.