Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Incertae sedis
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Echium
Species: E. vulgare
Binomial name: Echium vulgare
Common name: Vipers bugloss, Blueweed
Echium vulgare is a species of Echium native to most of Europe, and western and central Asia. It is a biennial or monocarpic perennial plant growing to 30–80 cm tall, with rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves. The flowers start pink and turn vivid blue and are 15–20 mm in a branched spike, with all the stamens protruding. Stamens remain red and stand out against the blue flowers. It flowers between November and February. This is a weed of roadsides, bare and waste places in the North Island, or the general countryside in drier parts of the South Island. It prefers hot sunny conditions and produces a good honey flow when most other nectar sources have dried up. It is an invasive species in New Zealand.
Echium vulgare roadside
The leaf of Echium vulgare
The underside of a leaf with raised midrib.
Red based prickly hairs on the stem
