Lithospermum californicum

California stoneseed, California Stoneseed

Family: Boraginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California stoneseed is a native perennial herb found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and northern Sierra Nevada foothills in open, dry slopes, yellow-pine forests, pine/oak woodlands, and chaparral at elevations of 250 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces golden yellow flowers 12 to 18 millimeters long with salverform corollas and delicate, entire lobes. Growing with 1 to several stems 15 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms clustered, somewhat branched stems with a woody caudex. Its leaves are scattered, with oblong to lance-ovate blades 2.5 to 5 centimeters long, creating an open, sparse appearance. The fruit consists of smooth, shiny white nutlets 3.5 to 5 millimeters long with an abruptly short tip.

Habitat: Open, dry slopes, yellow-pine forest, pine/oak woodland, chaparral

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 250-1900 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, NCoRI, CaR, n SNH

California counties: Shasta, Siskiyou, Del Norte, Trinity, Tehama, Plumas, Modoc, Butte, Tuolumne, Glenn, Placer, Yuba, Nevada, Alameda, Humboldt, Lassen

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.