Echium vulgare (Viper’s Bugloss)

Echium vulgare

Echium vulgare L.

Viper’s Bugloss, Common Viper’s Bugloss

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Lamiales	Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary
Family	Boraginaceae	Borages or forget-me-nots
Genus	Echium	From the Greek echis, “a viper,” the nutlets appearing to represent a viper’s head
Species	vulgare	Latin for “common”

About plant names...

Viper’s bugloss is native to Europe and western and central Asia. It was introduced to North America, where it has become naturalized, and is considered an invasive species in Washington. With a name like that, I had to try to find out where it comes from. “Viper” refers to a supposed resemblance between the seeds and a viper’s head. “Bugloss” derives from Greek words meaning rough, a reference to the hairy, warty stems.

Identification: Plants are 12-31" (30-80 cm) tall. Initially, the flowers are pink, becoming blue as they mature. Leaves are long, up to 6" (15 cm), and narrow, 1" (3 cm). Flowers are occur in flowering spikes, with individual flowers ½-¾" (1.5-2 cm) in length. Each flower has five long red or red-violet stamens. Stems have soft hairs, with hairs emerging from raised purple spots on the green stem.

Online References:

Echium vulgare on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Echium vulgare on Wikipedia

Echium vulgare on chestofbooks.com

Echium vulgare on Missouriplants.com

Echium vulgare on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Echium vulgare on Wikimedia Commons

Echium vulgare on the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide

Echium vulgare at the University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

Echium vulgare at Botanical.com