Index / Search / Lithospermum ruderale
§1 Plant
Lithospermum ruderale Douglas ex Lehm.
vernacular western stoneseed — species · Boraginaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Boraginaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Lithospermum
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 171 counties across 9 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Medium
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- Low
- Salinity
- Low
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -28 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 100 min.
- Precipitation
- 8–18 in/yr
- pH range
- 6–7.8
- Root depth
- 12 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Porous
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Moderate
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 230,000
- Propagation
- seed
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- No Known Source
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Medium
- Graze palatability
- Medium
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 171 counties across 9 states/territories.
California view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 31 N ▾
- Ada 16001
- Adams 16003
- Bannock 16005
- Bear Lake 16007
- Blaine 16013
- Boise 16015
- Bonneville 16019
- Butte 16023
- Caribou 16029
- Cassia 16031
- Clark 16033
- Clearwater 16035
- Custer 16037
- Elmore 16039
- Fremont 16043
- Gem 16045
- Idaho 16049
- Kootenai 16055
- Latah 16057
- Lemhi 16059
- Lewis 16061
- Lincoln 16063
- Madison 16065
- Nez Perce 16069
- Oneida 16071
- Owyhee 16073
- Power 16077
- Teton 16081
- Twin Falls 16083
- Valley 16085
- Washington 16087
Montana view state ↗ 28 N ▾
- Beaverhead 30001
- Big Horn 30003
- Blaine 30005
- Carbon 30009
- Cascade 30013
- Chouteau 30015
- Deer Lodge 30023
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Glacier 30035
- Granite 30039
- Jefferson 30043
- Judith Basin 30045
- Lake 30047
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Madison 30057
- Meagher 30059
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Phillips 30071
- Powell 30077
- Ravalli 30081
- Sanders 30089
- Silver Bow 30093
- Stillwater 30095
- Sweet Grass 30097
- Teton 30099
Nevada view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 23 N ▾
- Baker 41001
- Benton 41003
- Columbia 41009
- Crook 41013
- Deschutes 41017
- Gilliam 41021
- Grant 41023
- Harney 41025
- Hood River 41027
- Jackson 41029
- Jefferson 41031
- Josephine 41033
- Klamath 41035
- Lake 41037
- Malheur 41045
- Morrow 41049
- Sherman 41055
- Umatilla 41059
- Union 41061
- Wallowa 41063
- Wasco 41065
- Washington 41067
- Wheeler 41069
Utah view state ↗ 25 N ▾
- Beaver 49001
- Box Elder 49003
- Cache 49005
- Daggett 49009
- Davis 49011
- Duchesne 49013
- Emery 49015
- Grand 49019
- Iron 49021
- Juab 49023
- Millard 49027
- Morgan 49029
- Piute 49031
- Rich 49033
- Salt Lake 49035
- San Juan 49037
- Sanpete 49039
- Sevier 49041
- Summit 49043
- Tooele 49045
- Uintah 49047
- Utah 49049
- Wasatch 49051
- Washington 49053
- Weber 49057
Washington view state ↗ 21 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/LIRU4 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2926094 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z