Eastern Prairie Marbleseed
Lithospermum parviflorum
Found in calcareous woodlands, barrens, and glades, and nearby in disturbed areas, such as older pasture edges. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Bloom
- May to July
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 17 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lithospermum
- Haploa leconteiLeconte's Haploa
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Ethmia longimaculella
5BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lithospermum
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
7BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lithospermum
- Anthus spragueiiSprague's Pipit
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
- Rhynchophanes mccowniiMcCown's Longspur
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Boraginaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Shaggy Marbleseed
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications