A large family, widely distributed, chiefly rough-hairy herbs, without
stipules; usually with alternate, toothless leaves; flowers usually in
coiled, one-sided clusters; calyx usually with five sepals; corolla
usually symmetrical, with five united petals, often with crests or
appendages in the throat; stamens five, inserted in the tube of the
corolla, alternate with its lobes; ovary superior, with a single,
sometimes two-cleft, style, and usually deeply four-lobed, like that
of the Mint Family, forming in fruit four seed-like nutlets. Mature
fruit is necessary to distinguish the different kinds. These plants
superficially resemble some of the Waterleaf Family, but the four lobes
of the ovary are conspicuous.
There are many kinds of Lappula, chiefly of the north-temperate zone;
leaves narrow; corolla blue or white, salver-form or funnel-form, with
a very short tube, the throat closed by five short scales, the stamens,
with short filaments, hidden in the tube; ovary deeply four-lobed;
style short; nutlets armed with barbed prickles, forming burs, giving
the common name, Stickseed, and the Latin name, derived from "bur."
Some of them resemble Forget-me-nots, but are not true Myosotis.
[Sidenote: =White Forget-me-not=
_Láppula subdecúmbens_
=White
Spring, summer
Northwest=]
Though the foliage is harsh, this plant is so graceful and has such
pretty flowers that it is most attractive. It is from ten to eighteen
inches tall, with several yellowish, hairy stems, springing from a
perennial root and a cluster of root-leaves, the stem-leaves more or
less clasping at base, all bluish-green, covered with pale hairs, with
prominent veins on the back and sparse bristles along the edges. The
flowers form handsome, large, loose clusters and the hairy buds are
tightly coiled. The calyx is hairy, with blunt lobes, and the corolla,
about half an inch across, is pure white, or tinged with blue, often
marked with blue, with two ridges on the base of each petal, and the
throat closed by five yellow crests, surrounded by a ring of fuzzy
white down. This grows on dry plains and hillsides, sometimes making
large clumps.
[Illustration: White Forget-me-not--Lappula subdecumbens.]
[Sidenote: =Wild Forget-me-not=
_Láppula velùtina_
=Blue
Summer
California=]
Beautiful flowers, resembling true Forget-me-nots, but larger, with
velvety, often reddish stems, from one to two feet tall, velvety
leaves, and flowers in handsome, loose, somewhat coiling clusters. The
corolla is about half an inch across, sky-blue, the most brilliant blue
of any flower in Yosemite, with five, white, heart-shaped crests in the
throat; the buds pink. This is rather common in the Sierra Nevada at
moderate altitudes. _L. nervòsa_, of high altitudes, is similar, but
with smaller flowers, the leaves rough-hairy, but green. This has very
prickly nutlets, which stick in the wool of sheep and are dreaded by
shepherds. _L. floribúnda_, also growing in the mountains of California
and Oregon, has similar, small, blue flowers, sometimes pink, and
hairy, gray foliage. _L. Califórnica_, of the northern Sierra Nevada
mountains, has small white flowers.
There are many kinds of Lithospermum, chiefly of the northern
hemisphere; with reddish, woody roots, hairy leaves, without
leaf-stalks, and flowers crowded in clusters, mixed with leaves and
leafy bracts; corolla funnel-form or salver-form, the throat often
hairy or crested; stamens with short filaments, not protruding from the
throat of the corolla; ovary four-lobed, with a slender style, stigma
with a round head or two lobes; nutlets usually white and smooth. The
Greek name means "stony seed." Puccoon is the Indian name, and these
plants are also called Gromwell, and sometimes Indian Dye-stuff,
because the Indians made dye from the roots, which yield a beautiful
delicate purple color.
[Sidenote: =Hairy Puccoon=
_Lithospérmum pilòsum_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
Northwest, Utah, etc.=]
A rather pretty plant, about a foot tall, with several, stout,
yellowish-green stems, covered with white hairs and very leafy,
springing from a thick perennial root. The leaves are bluish-gray green
and downy, harsh on the under side, and the flowers are numerous and
pleasantly scented, with a very hairy calyx and a salver-form corolla,
about three-eighths of an inch across, silky outside, the throat downy
inside, but without crests. The flowers are yellow, an unusual shade
of pale corn-color, and harmonize with the pale foliage, but are not
conspicuous, and the flower cluster is so crowded with leaves and leafy
bracts that it is not effective. This grows in dry fields, as far east
as Nebraska, and sometimes makes pretty little bushes, over two feet
across.
[Illustration: Hairy Puccoon--Lithospermum pilosum.