66 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



E. vulgare L. is known in. the United States of America as " Blue Weed," 

 " Blue Devil," and " Blue Thistle." 



For the origin of the name " Paterson's Curse," see below. I have seen it 

 called " Beggar's Blankets," but the plant usually known by that name is 

 Verbascum (Mullein). 



Botanical Description. Genus Echium: 



Herbs sometimes shrubby; usually large, stout, hispid or scabrous, with 

 tuberous-based hairs. Leaves entire. Flowers white, red, purple, or blue, in 

 spiked or panicled racemes. Calyx 5-partite. Corolla-tube cylindric or funnel- 

 shaped ; throat dilated; limb unequally 5-lobed. Filaments unequal, adiuite to 

 the corolla below, exserted. Style filiform, stigma 2-lobed. Nutlets 4, inserted by 

 flat bases on the flat receptacle, ovoid or turbinate, wrinkled, scabrid. Distri- 

 bution.^ Chiefly S. Europe and Oriental ; species, 20. 



E. plantagineum L. ; cauline leaves linear-oblong cordate at the base, calyx 

 much shorter than the corolla-tube, cymes elongate, stamens slightly protruded. 

 E. violaceum, Brit. FL, not of L. Cornwall and S.W. of Jersey ; fl. June- Aug. 

 Root fusiform, annual or biennial. Stein. 13 ft., erect or ascending, diffusely 

 branched. Leaves radical 4 G in., lanceolate, petioled ; cauline spreading 

 obtuse, sometimes dilated at the base. Cymes 4-0 in., spreading, curved. 

 Calyx-lobes subulate-lanceolate. Corolla 1 in., dark blue-purple. Nutlets as in 

 E. vulgare. Distribution. Spain and Mediterranean region to Greece. 



I proceed to give the specific description of E. vulga/re for reasons which 

 will be evident presently. 



E. vulgare L, ; cauline leaves lanceolate or oblong, rounded at the base, cymes 

 short, calyx exceeding the corolla-tube, stamens much protruded. E. itattcuni 

 Huds., not of L. Viper's Bugloss. Waste ground on light soils in England; an 

 alien or colonist in Scotland. Watson ; S.E. of Ireland ; fl. June-August. Root 

 fusiform, annual or biennial. Stem 1 3 ft., erect or ascending below, stout, 

 leafy. Radical leaves petioled, 4 8 in; caulhie sessile, acute, rounded at the 

 base. Cymes 1 in. or more, axillary, recurved, lengthening in fruit, panicled 

 towards the ends of the branches ; bracts and calyx-lobes linear. Corolla in., 

 red-purple in bud, then bright blue, rarely white. Nutlets angular, rugose. 

 Distribution. Europe, N. Africa, W. Siberia, introduced in N. America. (The 

 Students' Flora of the British Islands, 2nd Edition, by Sir J. D. Hooker.) 



Synonyms. E. plantagineum L. is, as Hooker states, a synonym of E. 

 violaceum Brit. FL, not of Linn. 



If we examine Hooker's descriptions of E. vulgare L. and E. plantagineum 

 L., we find two important points, viz. : 



E. vulgare : 



(1) Cauline leaves lanceolate or oblong, rounded at the base. 



(2) Calyx exceeding the corolla-tube. 

 E. plantagineum : 



(1) Cauline leaves linear-oblong, cordate at the base. 



(2) Calyx much shorter than the corolla- tube. 



Now, if the drawing be consulted, it will be seen that the flowers are those 

 of E. plantagineum as regards the important botanical character (2). The 

 arrangement of the inflorescence is also of that species, that of E. vulgare 

 being coarser and more crowded. 



Coming to the eauline leaves, we find that they are cordate at the base; 

 but if " Illustrations of the British Flora," Fitch and Smith, No. 691, be 

 referred to, it will be found that the cordate base is by no means a prominent 

 character. I therefore name our " Paterson's Curse " E. plantagineum, 

 although I admit it is not absolutely typical. But allowance must always 

 be made for a naturalised plant growing under conditions perhaps very 

 different to those of its native country; furthermore, Echiums are rather 

 large, coarse plants, and very few herbarium specimens comprise whole 

 plants, including, of course, representative cauline leaves. As a rule, the 

 flowering tops are alone picked off and sent for examination. 



