Curtis Botanical – Plate 5942 – Rock Gromwell / Stony Stonewort

Original antique black-and-white print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 5942.

A Mediterranean and Anatolian perennial of rocky limestone cliffs (petraeum = of the rocks), with small vivid blue flowers in the borage family. The genus name Lithospermum means 'stone seed' — the nutlets are hard as tiny pebbles.

Turkish, Greek, and Balkan heritage connection.

Uncolored plate. Condition consistent with age of volume. Each print is a unique piece of botanical history, printed on paper aged over a century.

This plate originated with the Royal Horticultural Society and passed through Wheldon & Wesley, one of the great natural history dealers of the 20th century. We came into the archive by accident and have spent the time since trying to share it as widely as we can.