Viper Bugloss Echium vulgare Blueweed

LATIN NAME: Echium vulgare

COMMON NAME: Viper’s Bugloss

The viper’s bugloss is the blue rocket of the dry bank, and the curling spikes of the gentian-blue flowers straighten and open through the summer. The tall, bristly, biennial or short-lived perennial plant carries the narrow, hairy leaves and the dense, one-sided, curling spikes of the many small, gentian-blue flowers with the protruding red stamens through the summer, one of the fine, blue sights of the dry bank. The plant is a fine, bold presence of the wild patch and the dry border. It is a plant of the open, sunny, very well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The viper’s bugloss is a bold, blue subject of the plant science, and the curling spikes keep showing up in the work on the wildflower group. The way the plant draws the bees and the butterflies has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the pollinator plants, the dryland biennials and the members of the borage family. The narrow, hairy leaves and the tall, bristly habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the viper’s bugloss is a regular subject of the work on the blue rockets of the dry world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The viper’s bugloss is a fine, bold plant of the wild patch and the dry border. The dense, one-sided, curling spikes of the gentian-blue flowers with the red stamens open through the summer, one of the great bee plants of the dry garden, and the whole plant stands the poor, stony, dry ground with the ease. It is one of the fine choices for the wildflower meadow, the bee garden and the dry bank of the warm border, and the blue rockets give the fine, bold colour of the late summer. It has been written up in the horticultural and the ecological papers for the blue spikes and the bee ways, and it is a fine, generous plant of the open, sunny, very well-drained garden.

The viper’s bugloss is one of the great bee plants of the dry garden, and the gentian-blue flowers with the red stamens open through the summer. The curling spikes straighten as the flowers open.

To grow the viper’s bugloss from seed, sow the small, rough seeds across the surface of a tray of moist, free-draining soil, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the very well-drained ground, the blue rockets will rise through the summer.

Uses: Medicinal
(Blueweed) Bristly native of Europe with brilliant blue flowers from June til frost. Thrives in dry, poor soils. Infusion of leaves is helpful for fevers, headaches and nervous complaints.