Echium vulgare L.
Viper’s bugloss, common viper’s bugloss
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, or possibly because the plant was used in the treatment of viper and other snake bites. “Bugloss” derives from Greek words meaning rough, a reference to the hairy, warty stems.
Plants: 12–31″ (30–80 cm) tall. Stems have soft hairs, with hairs emerging from raised purple spots on the green stem.
Leaves: Rough, hairy, oblanceolate leaves, up to 6–1½″ (15–3.8 cm). Leaves are speckled with white.
Flowers: Initially, the flowers are pink, becoming blue as they mature. Leaves are long, up to 6″ (15 cm), and narrow, 1″ (3 cm). Flowers 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 that contrast against the blue flowers. Flowers appear from May to September.
Fruits: Rough nutlets about 1/16″ (2.5 mm) in size.
Habitats: Waste areas, roadsides, railways, sandy areas.
Edibility: 
Poisonous to people, horses and cattle,
due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which accumulate in the liver.
Online References:
6/30/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 4″ (9.4 × 10 cm) 
7/31/2016 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 
6/30/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (28 × 18 cm) 
6/30/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 6″ (17 × 16 cm) 
6/30/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4 × 4½″ (10 × 12 cm) 
7/31/2016 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 
7/3/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 9″ (16 × 23 cm) 
7/31/2016 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 
7/31/2016 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 
7/19/2017 · Monongahela National Forest, Monongahela, West Virginia · ≈ 4 × 6″ (10 × 14 cm) 
7/19/2017 · Monongahela National Forest, Monongahela, West Virginia · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
7/19/2017 · Monongahela National Forest, Monongahela, West Virginia · ≈ 6 × 5″ (14 × 12 cm) 
6/30/2013 · Rte. 119/225, Littleton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (12 × 18 cm) 
9/3/2020 · Mitchell Field, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 6″ (11 × 15 cm) 
7/31/2016 · Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 
7/19/2017 · Monongahela National Forest, Monongahela, West Virginia · ≈ 7 × 6″ (18 × 14 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| 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” |
Echium vulgare description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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