Viper's Bugloss

The last couple of weeks have seen a profusion of viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare) spring up. Their deep blue flowers catch the eye especially with a background of green grass. If you look closely you will see long red stamens emerging from the blue petals. They thrive in disturbed, dry sandy soil so it’s no surprise to find them on the field margins in this area.

Bugloss is apparently derived from Greek for ox tongue and the rough hairy leaves are, I suppose, suggestive of this. The seeds resemble adder's head, whilst other references state viper's bugloss can be used to treat adder bites. Its probably wiser to go to A&E for emergency treatment should this remote occurrence happen to you.

The bees are very keen on bugloss and it is in fact related to borage which is often grown with bees in mind.