7109.000 Lithospermum L.

Martins, E.S. (1990) Boraginaceae Flora Zambesiaca 7(4)

Taton, A. (1971) Boraginaceae Flore du Congo du Rwanda et du Burundi Jardin Botanique National de Belgique

Description of the genus

Perennial herbs or undershrubs. Leaves alternate, entire. Flowers 5-merous, actinomorphic, on leafy terminal or axillary cymes. Calyx lobed to near the base. Corolla cylindric to infundibuliform, orange, yellowish or whitish; tube with 5 more or less glandular invaginations in the throat and with a ring of nectaries at the base, inside; lobes imbricate in bud. Ovary with 4 free lobes, inserted on the narrow gynobase. Fruit dry, consisting of 4 nutlets or less by abortion; nutlets detaching completely from the receptacle, ovoid to ellipsoid, erect, smooth, white and shining, with the dorsal surface convex and the ventral one obtusely angular with a flat or convex point of attachment.

Worldwide: 60 species in temperate regions, mainly North America.

Zambia: 1 taxon.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
afromontanum Weim.E

Other sources of information about Lithospermum:

Our websites:

Flora of the DRC: Lithospermum
Flora of Malawi: Lithospermum
Flora of Rwanda: Lithospermum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Lithospermum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Lithospermum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Lithospermum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Lithospermum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Lithospermum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Lithospermum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Lithospermum
JSTOR Plant Science: Lithospermum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Lithospermum
Plants of the World Online: Lithospermum
Tropicos: Lithospermum
Wikipedia: Lithospermum

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Nicholas Wightman, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-26

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wightman, N., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2026). Flora of Zambia: Genus page: Lithospermum.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=1199, retrieved 19 May 2026

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