[Gromwells and Puccoons: The Genera Buglossoides and Lithosperumum in the
Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Columbia Puccoon, Puccoon, Western Gromwell, Western Stoneseed
Lithospermum ruderale
Synonyms: Lithospermum lanceolatum, Lithospermum pilosum
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The photo at left shows the attractive flowers
of puccoon with a nectaring gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) as seen
above the mouth of the Deschutes River in the eastern Columbia River Gorge..........April
24, 2005. The photo at right shows puccoon in full bloom atop Mill Creek Ridge, Mill Creek Ridge Preserved, a Columbia Land Trust property......May 9, 2023.
Characteristics:
Puccoon is a perennial flower of some attractive nature with
multiple leafy stems arising 20-60 cm high from a woody base. The stems are
lax or almost prostrate to ascending. The leaves are all found on the stiffly
haired stems, the lower ones largely reduced with the upper leaves numerous
with sessile bases. Individual leaves are lanceolate to linear in shape and
range from 3-10 cm long and 2-10 mm wide.
The flowers are clustered among leafy bracts in the upper axils.
The flowers are 5-lobed with a light greenish-yellow coloration. The flowers
are 8-13 mm long with the tube 4-6 mm long and the limb 7-13 mm wide. The corolla
tube is glandular within the tip. Each flower produces 4 cone-shaped, hard and
stony nutlets or seeds.
The genus name Lithospermum means stony (Litho-) seed (-sperm)
in reference to the stony seeds or nutlets.
Puccoon was widely used as medicine by the Plains Indians. The
roots were eaten when cooked and also were a remedy for respiratory ailments.
Habitat:
Puccoon may be found in a variety of open, fairly dry places
in the foothills and grasslands to moderate elevations in the mountains. It
may be found in sandy, gravelly and deep loam soils.
Range:
Puccoon may be found from southern British Columbia south to
the east of the Cascades to northern California and thence east to southern
Colorado. It is occasionally found in drier open places in the Puget trough.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations
of 200'-3000' from Dog Mt. east to the eastern end of the Gorge.
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The photo at left shows a close-up of the flower cluster of puccoon as seen at Horsethief Butte in the Columbia River Gorge..........April 9, 2009. The photo at left shows a cluster of leafy stems arising from the ground on southeast-facing slopes of Sevenmile Hill, several miles northwest of The Dalles, Oregon.........March 8, 2015..
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Puccoon blooming amongst Columbia Gorge lupines and balsamroots above Devils Gap, Columbia Hills State Park..........April 14, 2013.
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A close-up of the tooth-like seeds of puccoon as seen from the northwest corner of the Columbia Hills State Park........October 18, 2015.
Photographed on Washington Department of Natural Resources land along Horseshoe Bend Road, mid-Klickitat River Gorge.........May 8, 2011.
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A close-up of an early-blooming example of puccoon as seen (left) on slopes above Klickitat Springs in the middle Klickitat River drainage........April 12, 2011. The photo at right shows a close-up of the flowers of puccoon as seen high in the Collumbia Hills NAP..........March 25, 2016.
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Puccoon blooming high in the northwestern corner of the Columbia Hills State Park........April 12, 2014.
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Early blooming puccoon as seen high in the northwestern corner of the Columbia Hills State Park.........March 24, 2014.
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Puccoon beginning to bloom in the northwest corner of the Columbia Hills State Park........April 16, 2015.
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Puccoon in bloom and being pollinated by a domestic honeybee as seen atop the Mill Creek Ridge Preserve, Columbia Land Trust lands southwest of The Dalles, OR.......April 22, 2018.
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Puccoon as seen at left along the Memaloose Trail east of Mosier, Oregon........March 27, 2015. The photo at right shows blooming puccoon at the Mill Creek Ridge Preserve, a Columbia Land Trust property........April 28, 2019.
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Puccoon in bloom along the Memaloose Trail on Castilleja Hill, Columbia River Gorge........April 21, 2017.
Winter appearance of puccoon as seen atop Mill Creek Ridge, Columbia River Gorge......November 1, 2023.
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Puccoon beginning to bloom atop Mill Creek Ridge, Wasco County, WA......March 17, 2020.
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A close-up sideview of the flowers and narrow calyx lobes of puccoon as seen at left from just east of the mouth of the
Deschutes River, OR..........4/12/2001. Note the long, narrow calyx lobes. The photo at right shows the earliest leaves of puccoon just emerging from the ground on USFS lands on the south side of Sevenmile Hill, near The Dalles, OR......March 4, 2021.
Paul Slichter