BORAGINACE^E 



"It seems to have always remained one of the island's 

 rarer plants and never to have established any permanent 

 colony. Nor is it known that more than a few plants have 

 ever been found together on the island. It seems to appear 

 sporadically and to disappear at widely separated points 

 along those miles of seashore that, it might be thought, 

 would offer good encouragement to its continued growth. 

 These circumstances of its occurrence suggest that its 

 seeds may come to the island from time to time by some 

 natural agency of dispersion, but that the plant is unable 

 to overcome some condition in the environment not quite 

 favourable to its particular need." 



BORAGINACE^: BORAGE FAMILY 



Echium vulgare, L. 



Blue to pink and violet Blue-devil, Viper' s-stem, 



Viper' s-bugloss, Viper's-herb, 



June-October Blue-weed, Snake Flower, 



Blue-thistle, Adders-wort, 



Viper's Grass, Cat's Tail. 



Echium: a plant name used by the Greeks, from a word 

 meaning viper, because it was claimed that a concoction 

 of the plant was a protection from a viper's bite. 



Vulgare: Latin form for common. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of gardens and 

 roadsides. 



THE PLANT: erect; the stem one foot to two feet high, 

 beset with stiff hairs growing from swollen red bases; the 

 straight root sometimes at least three feet long. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; oblong to linear-lanceolate; two 

 inches or more long; hairy on both surfaces and on the 

 margin; the lower and basal narrowed into petioles, the 

 upper stemless; acute or obtuse at the apex. 

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