Echium
Encyclopedia
Echium is a genus
of 60 species
of flowering plant
in the family Boraginaceae
.
The type species
is Echium vulgare, viper's bugloss
. Species of Echium are native to North Africa
, Europe
, Madeira
and the Canary Islands
, but have also become invasive in southern Africa and Australia. One species, Echium plantagineum (Patterson's Curse
), has become a major invasive species
in Australia
.
Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.
Echium species are used as food plants by the larva
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Coleophora onosmella
and Orange Swift
.
Echium oil contains high levels of alpha linolenic acid
(ALA), gamma linolenic acid
(GLA) and stearidonic acid
(SDA), making it valuable in cosmetic and skin care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of 60 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the family Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....
.
The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is Echium vulgare, viper's bugloss
Viper's Bugloss
Echium vulgare is a species of Echium native to most of Europe, and western and central Asia. It is also common in North America....
. Species of Echium are native to North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
and the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, but have also become invasive in southern Africa and Australia. One species, Echium plantagineum (Patterson's Curse
Patterson's Curse
Echium plantagineum, commonly known as Purple Viper's Bugloss, is a species of Echium, native to western and southern Europe , northern Africa, and southwestern Asia . It has also been introduced to Australia, South Africa and United States and is an invasive plant...
), has become a major invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Uses
Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world. In CreteCrete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.
Echium species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Coleophora onosmella
Coleophora
Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions...
and Orange Swift
Orange Swift
The Orange Swift , also known as "Orange Moth" , is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is distributed throughout Europe....
.
Echium oil contains high levels of alpha linolenic acid
Alpha-linolenic acid
α-Linolenic acid is an organic compound found in many common vegetable oils. In terms of its structure, it is named all-cis-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid. In physiological literature, it is given the name 18:3 ....
(ALA), gamma linolenic acid
Gamma-Linolenic acid
γ-Linolenic acid is a fatty acid found primarily in vegetable oils...
(GLA) and stearidonic acid
Stearidonic acid
Stearidonic acid is an ω-3 fatty acid, sometimes called moroctic acid. It is biosynthesized from alpha-linolenic acid by the enzyme delta-6-desaturase. Natural sources of this fatty acid are the seed oils of hemp, blackcurrant, corn gromwell and echium, and the cyanobacterium Spirulina....
(SDA), making it valuable in cosmetic and skin care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils.
Species
- Echium acanthocarpum Svent.
- Echium aculeatum Poir.
- Echium albicans Lag. & Rodr.
- Echium amoenum Fisch. & Mey.: Gol-e-Gavzaban or Gol Gavzaban
- Echium angustifolium Lam.
- Echium arenarium Guss.
- Echium asperrimum Lam.
- Echium auberianum Webb et Berth.
- Echium bethencourtii Santos
- Echium boissieri Steudel
- Echium bonnetii Coincy
- Echium brevirame Sprague et Hutch.
- Echium callithyrsum Webb ex Bolle
- Echium candicansEchium candicansEchium candicans , commonly known as Pride of Madeira, is a large biennial or more commonly perennial members of the Echium genus.It is endemic to the island of Madeira....
L. fil. : Pride of Madeira - Echium creticumEchium creticumCretan viper's bugloss is an ornamental plant.-External links:*...
L. - Echium decaisnei Webb
- Echium flavum Desf.
- Echium gaditanum Boiss.
- Echium gentianoidesEchium gentianoidesEchium gentianoides is a plant with tubular brilliant blue flowers. It is included in the genus Echium. It is native only to the rocky slopes of La Caldera de Taburiente on the island of La Palma and is very rare in the wild....
- Echium giganteum L. fil.
- Echium handiense Svent.
- Echium humile Desf.
- Echium italicum L. : Pale Viper's-bugloss
- Echium judaeum
- Echium lancerottense Lems et Holz.
- Echium leucophaeum Webb ex Sprague et Hutch.
- Echium lusitanicum L.
- Echium marianum Boiss.
- Echium nervosum Dryand. in W.T. Aiton
- Echium parviflorum Moench : Small-flowered Viper's-bugloss
- Echium pavonianum Boiss.
- Echium pininanaEchium pininanaEchium pininana, also called Tree Echium, Pine echium and Giant Viper's bugloss, is a plant, native to La Palma in the Canary Islands, that is now cultivated in gardens in Britain and Ireland. Its native habitat is laurel forests, where it is now endangered through habitat loss.E...
Webb et Berth. : Giant Viper's-bugloss - Echium plantagineum L. : Purple Viper's-bugloss, Patterson's Curse
- Echium pustulatum Sibth. & Sm.
- Echium rosulatum Lange : Lax Viper's-bugloss
- Echium russicum J.F.Gmel.
- Echium sabulicolaEchium sabulicolaEchium sabulicola is a plant in the genus Echium. It is a herbaceous biennial plant and grows up to 70 cm in height and requires plenty of sun and prolong dry periods...
Pomel - Echium salmanticum Lag.
- Echium simplexEchium simplexEchium simplex is a herbaceous biennial plant which grows up to 3 m in height . It is endemic in the island of Tenerife mainly in Macizo de Anaga.-Habitat:...
DC. - Echium strictum L.f.
- Echium sventenii Bramw.
- Echium tuberculatumEchium tuberculatumEchium tuberculatum is a flowering plant from Portugal. This plant is a hardy garden perennial and it forms a sprawling mass of red flowers during the whole of the summer. It will self seed readily around....
Hoffmanns. & Link - Echium virescensEchium virescensEchium virescens is a plant included in the genus Echium. It is endemic to the island of Tenerife, mainly in Macizo de Anaga and the Orotava Valley...
DC. : Tower of Jewels - Echium vulgare L : Viper's Bugloss
- Echium webbiiEchium webbiiEchium webbii grows on woody slopes leading up to La caldera on the island of La Palma. The flowers are normally blue and produced in numerous spikes in early summer, but a hybrid is sometimes seen with white or pink flowers. The plant is not very tolerant of cold, and in the wild is a shrub. It...
Coincy - Echium wildpretiiEchium wildpretiiEchium wildpretii is an herbaceous biennial plant that grows up to 3 m in height. The species is endemic to the island of Tenerife, and is found mainly in Las Cañadas del Teide. The common names are tower of jewels, red bugloss, Tenerife bugloss or Mount Teide bugloss...
Pears. ex Hook. fil. - Echium wildpretii subsp. trichosiphonEchium wildpretii subsp. trichosiphonEchium wildpretii subsp. trichosiphon is an Echium that is found high up in the area of La caldera de taburiente on the Canary Island of La Palma. Like its sister plant on Tenerife, this plant forms a large rosette of silvery leaves which eventually give rise to tall spikes of bright pink flowers....