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Virginia False Gromwell

Lithospermum virginianum

Found in sandhills; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock; forests and woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

43
Good

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 76%

Height
1–2 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
April to September
Fruiting season
Late May to October

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 21 Virginia counties and cities.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 120 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

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
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Boraginaceae
Flower color
Orange or yellow
Fruit begins
Late May
Fruit ends
October
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Onosmodium virginianum

Conservation status

Virginia rankS2
Global rankG4
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources