[Illustration: 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.”
[Illustration: 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.