58 Nebraskaland • March 2025
MIXED BAG
In spring, just around the corner, the
bright yellow-orange fl owers of hairy
puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense)
and the yellow blooms of its shorter
cousin, fringed puccoon (L. incisum),
add fl ashes of color to the grassy
dunes of the Sandhills. Both species
are thick, tap-rooted perennials in the
borage family, whose members are
characterized by their fi ve-petaled,
funnel-shaped fl owers and hard, nut-
like seeds.
Great Plains tribes valued the
puccoons among their many medicinal
plants. The Lakota referred to hairy
puccoon as "peju'ta ha sa'pa," which
translates to black skin medicine or
bark medicine. They used the plant for
treating hemorrhaging of the lungs.
Their name for fringed puccoon is
"peju'ta sabsa'pa," meaning black
medicine. A powder made from the
plant's black roots was used to treat
chest wounds, such as from arrows or
gunshots.
The Cheyenne used dried, ground
leaves and roots of fringed puccoon to
treat paralysis. When the powder was
rubbed on a paralyzed limb, it acted as
a counter-irritant, causing a prickling
sensation. Additionally, they made a
tea from the plant, which was applied
to the face and head to treat delirium.
The Kiowa-Apaches dug mature roots,
using them fresh and chopped or dried
and pounded to make tea for stomach
aches and diarrhea.
In his informative 1992 book
Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie,
a source for this article, Kansas
ethnobotanist Kelly Kindscher
noted that Comanche women used
an unidentifi ed puccoon for birth
control, though how they prepared
the plant remains a mystery. Better
documented, the Shoshones in
Nevada prepared a contraceptive: a
cold-water tea made from the roots of
western stoneseed (L. ruderale). When
consumed daily for six months, this
tea ensured sterility thereafter. Recent
studies have confi rmed the plant's
eff ectiveness as a contraceptive,
identifying lithospermic acid as the
active compound. This compound acts
on the pituitary gland, suppressing
hormone production that stimulates
the sex glands.
In coming decades, scientists may
discover new uses for the puccoons,
further confi rming their value beyond
their beauty as wildfl owers.
Hairy puccoon in full bloom in a Sandhills prairie in Brown County. GERRY STEINAUER
The Blackfeet burned dried tops of
fringed puccoon as incense during
ceremonies.
GERRY STEINAUER
PUCCOONS
Medicinal plants of the Sandhills
By Gerry Steinauer
