Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales? order assignment uncertain
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Echium vulgare
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Viper's Bugloss at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Echium vulgare
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Echium vulgare
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-04-001:
Echium vulgare FAMILY Boraginaceae
COMMON NAME:
Viper's-bugloss, Blueweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ecvu_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0507e_34
July Greenbrier County WV
Roadside
Pronounced "bew-gloss" not "bug-loss," referring to an ox's tongue, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm0507e_34b
July Greenbrier County WV
Roadside
Corolla conspicuously irregular, lobes rounded and spreading, the throat open, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507f_01
July Greenbrier County WV
Roadside
Cauline lvs oblong to linear-lanceolate, sessile, progressively smaller upward, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Echium vulgare
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Echium vulgare
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Echium vulgare
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 161-04-001:
Echium vulgare
FAMILY
Boraginaceae
2008
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: Roadsides, dry pastures, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Mediterranean Europe
Uncommon in NC Mountains, rare elsewhere in Carolinas (waifs in GA)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal & alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Bright blue-violet/ White or pink with age
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-parted calyx
5-lobed funnelform corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of specialized mericarps (nutlets)
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p050
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p422
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p212
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p210
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p135
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".