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For Your Garden - April 2019
Native plants provide beauty as well as food and shelter for wildlife. Native species are adapted to the Illinois climate. They require little or no watering and are resistant to drought, insects and most diseases. Because they are perennials, you can welcome their presence year after year.
American gromwell (Lithospermum latifolium)
Photo © River Valley Photographic Resources Ltd.
American gromwell grows in rich woodlands statewide. An individual plant may be one and one-half to two and one-half feet tall. Its stems and leaves are covered with small hairs. Flowers develop individually from the leaf axils at the stem tip. Flower color is yellow. The fruit is a nutlet. Long-tongued bees and butterflies are pollinators that can take advantage of the flowers.
Classification and taxonomy are based on Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 2014. Vascular flora of Illinois: A field guide. Fourth edition. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 536 pp.
Illinois Range
Native Plant Information
For more information about Illinois native plants, visit our Native Habitat Descriptions, Requirements, and Plant Lists page. The following publications are available from the IDNR on our publications page.
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Boraginaceae
Illinois Status: common, native
