Rank Species | Genus Echium Higher classification Viper's bugloss | |
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Similar Viper's bugloss, Boraginaceae, Echium plantagineum, Linaria vulgaris, Anchusa officinalis | ||
Invasive species blueweed echium vulgare
Echium vulgare — known as viper's bugloss and blueweed — is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is native to most of Europe, and western and central Asia and it occurs as an introduced species in north-eastern North America.
Contents
- Invasive species blueweed echium vulgare
- Viper s bugloss echium vulgare blueweed 2012 06 03
- Description
- Distribution
- References
Viper s bugloss echium vulgare blueweed 2012 06 03
Description
It is a biennial or monocarpic perennial plant growing to 30–80 cm (12–31 in) tall, with rough, hairy, oblanceolate leaves. The flowers start pink and turn vivid blue and are 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) in a branched spike, with all the stamens protruding. The pollen is blue but the filaments of the stamens remain red, contrasting against the blue flowers. It flowers between May and September. It is found in dry calcareous grassland and heaths, bare and waste places, along railways and roadsides, and on coastal cliffs, sand dunes and shingle.
Distribution
It is native to Europe and temperate Asia. It has been introduced to North America and is naturalised in parts of the continent, being listed as an invasive species in Washington state.
