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.
[Illustration: LARGE-FLOWERED VERVAIN SLENDER VERVAIN]
Branches often 4-angled; leaves opposite; flowers often whorled; calyx 5-lobed; petals 4-5, united; calyx and corolla often 2-lipped; stamens 4, on corolla-tube; ovary often 4-celled.
Slender Vervain (_Verbena halei_) was, until a few years ago, considered the same as the European vervain (_Verbena officinalis_), but it is now recognized as a different plant. Misty-looking purple patches on the roadside ahead usually turn out to be masses of the slender vervain. It is a perennial which takes on renewed blooming activity from early spring until fall, but usually only scattered plants bloom after June. It is very abundant in this state and other Southern States.
The flowers are small and scattered along the slender branches at the top of the stem. The upper leaves are narrow, those of the mid-stem divided; and the lower are broad and irregularly toothed.
Large-Flowered Vervain (_Verbena plicata_) shows some variation in color from white to lavender, the flowers commonly being a bluish-lavender. The flowers are about half an inch broad and grow in long showy spikes. The plants are perennial, and numerous stems form erect clumps 1-2 ft. high. It is especially handsome southwest of San Antonio and ranges into Mexico. It blooms from February to May.