Martin and Hutchins 1980, Kearney and Peebles 1969, Allred 2012
Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Biennial or short-lived perennial herb, 15-40 cm tall, from a taproot lacking purple dye; herbage hispid with appressed hairs. Leaves: Alternate on the stems and forming a distinct basal rosette; sessile; blades spatulate to narrowly lanceolate or linear, 2-5 cm long by 2 mm wide; basal leaves persistent through anthesis. Flowers: Yellow, in scorpioid cymes; calyx 5-lobed, 12 mm long; corolla pale yellow, funnelform, the tube about equaling calyx in length, the limb about 10 mm wide, corolla lobes entire. Fruits: Nutlets hard, bony, ovoid, smooth and shining. Ecology: Found on wooded slopes, especially pine-oak forests, from 5,000-9,000 ft (1524-2743 m); flowers June-August. Distribution: w TX to AZ; south to MEX Notes: This species is distinguished from other Lithospermum spp. by its corollas, which are short, wide and funnel-shaped, about as wide as they are long, and hairy on the inside (L. incisum has corollas much longer than they are wide, with tubes appearing elongate, 1-3 cm long; and L. multiflora has a smaller, narrower corolla with the lobes each about 2 mm long); and the obvious basal rosette of leaves which mostly persists into flowering (L. incisum has leaves down to the base of the stems but not always forming a distinct rosette, and L. multiflorum has no leaves near the base of the stems.) All 3 species show purple stains on herbarium sheets, though the formal description for L. cobrense claims its roots and crowns lack dye. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have many uses. Etymology: Lithospermum is from the Greek lithos, stone, and sperma, seed; cobrense is of uncertain origin but could refer to the copper-colored flowers. Editor: SBuckley, 2010, AHazelton 2016, AHazelton 2017