Echium vulgare
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
viper’s bugloss
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Blue, Red/Pink
Detailed description
Densely bristly annual or biennial herb to 50-90 cm high. Deep taproot. Stems stiff, erect, covered in reddish bristly hairs, with many short branches. Basal rosette leaves to 15 x 5 cm, narrow, stiffly bristly, harsh to touch. Stem leaves much smaller, alternate, also rough. Flowers funnel-shaped, 5- petalled, 12-18 mm long, pink in bud, becoming vivid blue (rarely remaining pink or white), 4 long stamens protruding and 1 smaller inside flower; in tapering spike-like heads, Nov-Jan. Seeds 4- angled, egg-shaped, 2 mm long.
Similar taxa
E. plantagineum Pattersons curse is less common (warmer areas only), has flowers 2-3 cm long, purplish-blue, with 2 protruding stamens, leaves less harsh. Borago officinalis borage occ escapes from cultivation, has star-like flowers 20-25 mm diam, in drooping clusters with cone of dark purple stamens; leaves with wavy margins, basal leaves up to 30 x 20 cm.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Short tussock grassland, herbfield, bare land, riverbeds, usually in dry, low fertility inland areas.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
November, December, January
Year naturalised
1870
Origin
Eurasia
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Tolerates dry, wind, physical damage and poor soils.
Life cycle and dispersal
Annual or Biennial. Produces many, long-lived seeds that are dispersed by wind, water, river gravel.
Other information
Etymology
echium: Possibly named the Greek echis ‘viper’, named for the seeds’ resemblance to a vipers’ head. The plant was believed by the 1st century physician Dioscoridesbe to be a remedy for a viper’s bite.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ECHVUL