The Hairy Puccoon–Here and Almost Gone
Well, the quiz is long over and the results tabulated. I must say we sure have an intelligent group visiting the blog! The answers were overwhelmingly cast for the correct answer, answer C; a hairy puccoon is a rare wildflower that grows on a few sand plains and dunes on Presque Isle. Out off 22 votes cast, 21 were for answer “C”. Hey, you that picked answer “D”! You get my vote for best sense of humor. Anyway, back to the hairy puccoon. Linda McWilliams, THE go-to-girl for all things green at PISP, has been so kind as to share with us the following information about the rare and wonderful hairy puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense var. croceum).
The hairy puccoon is very rare, the rarest of three puccoon varieties that grow in Pennsylvania. It is listed as an endangered species in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The hairy puccoon is also known by several other names including, golden puccoon, yellow puccoon, Carolina puccoon, Carolina gromwell, and hispid gromwell. We prefer hairy puccoon. Don’t you?!
Speaking of names, Linda also wanted to let us know that the word puccoon comes from the Powhatan, “poughkone”, which may be derived from the word “pak” which meant blood. The Powhatans were an Algonquin tribe that lived in the tidewaters of Virginia who used the pulverized roots of the puccoon to make red dye.
One of the several hairy puccoon plants found in June along Dead Pond Trail.
Generally, the hairy puccoon blooms from April to June, but here in NW PA on Presque Isle they do not bloom until June. I checked today and there seem to be a few stragglers. The hairy puccoon plants on the park can be found among the lupine, favoring the same habitat. The lupines have been out of bloom for several weeks now. Several hairy puccoon plants can be found to the east and across the street from the lighthouse and Toni and I found several plants along Dead Pond Trail.
