86 



BORAGINACEiE. 



LlTHOSPERMXJM. 



2. Lithospermum officinale, Linn. Common Gromwell. 



Stem erect, much branched ; leaves broadly or ovate-lanceolate, acute, prominently nerved, 

 rough above, hairy underneath ; tube of the corolla as long as the calyx ; nuts smooth and 

 polished. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 132 ; Engl. hot. t. 134 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 202 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. 

 p. 71 ; Beck, hot. p. 251 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 88. 



Perennial. Stem 12-18 inches high, often branched from the root and somewhat diffuse, 

 rough with appressed hairs. Leaves 1-2 inches long, and from one half to three quarters 

 of an inch wide ; the hairs on the upper surface growing out of small depressed tubercles. 

 Flowers in leafy spike -like racemes. Pedicels 2-3 lines long. Segments of the calyx 

 subulate-lanceolate. Corolla pale yellow. Nuts ovoid, often with a number of small de- 

 pressions. 



Dry waste places, river-banks, road-sides, etc. ; near Singsing, and in the western part of 

 the State. Probably of European origin. June. 



5. BATSCHIA. Gmel syst. 315 ; Michx. fl. I. p. 129; puccoon. 



[ In honor of John George Batsch, a German botanist of the last century.] 

 Calyx deeply 5-parted. Corolla somewhat salverform ; the limb nearly flat, with 5 rounded 

 lobes : throat naked : tube longer than the calyx, with a bearded ring at the base. Stamens 

 very short. Style included : stigma capitate and somewhat 2-lobed. Nuts smooth and 

 shining, not perforate at the base. — Herbaceous hairy or villous plants ; the flowers axillary 

 and crowded near the summit of the stem and branches, yellow, large. 



1. Batschia canescens, Michx. Common Puccoon. Alkanet. 



Stem villous ; leaves lanceolate-oblong, silky pubescent above, almost villous underneath ; 

 tube of the corolla about twice as long as the calyx. — Michx. fl. 1. p. 30. t. 14 ; Pursh,fl. 1. 

 p. 132 ; Bart. fl. N. Am. t. 58 ; Beck, hot. p. 252 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 118. Anchusa 

 Virginica, Linn. sp. 1. p. 133. A. canescens, Muhl. cat. p. 18. Lithospermum canescens, 

 Lelwi. Asperif. p. 305 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 203 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 88. 



Root large, descending obliquely, red. Stems 8-12 inches high, often several from one 

 root, sometimes trichotomously branched at the summit, clothed with rather stiff spreading 

 hairs. Leaves about an inch and a half long and 3-5 lines wide, pale green, rather obtuse 

 or sometimes slightly emarginate ; the pubescence of the upper surface more silky and ap- 

 pressed than that of the lower. Flowers usually in two short unequal lea f y racemes, which 

 are circinate, with the flowers much crowded. Segments of the calyx linear-lanceolate, villose. 

 Corolla more than half an inch long, bright orange-yellow. Stamens nearly sessile, about 

 one-third the length of the tube of the corolla. Style included : stigma distinctly capitate, 

 and cleft into two lobes. Nuts ovoid, hard and smooth. 



Northern part of the State {Prof. Hadley). May. The root of this plant is used by the 

 Indians of Canada and the Northwest, for painting red. 



