Salvation Jane

Echium plantagineum
In Portugal
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Boraginaceae
Genus:	Echium
Species:	E. plantagineum
Binomial name
Echium plantagineum L.

Echium plantagineum, commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss or Paterson's curse, is a species of Echium native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), northern Africa, and southwestern Asia (east to Georgia). It has also been introduced to Australia, South Africa and United States, where it is an invasive weed. Due to a high concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is poisonous to grazing livestock, especially those with simple digestive systems, like horses.

Echium plantagineum is a winter annual plant growing to 20–60 cm tall, with rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves up to 14 cm long. The flowers are purple, 15–20 mm long, with all the stamens protruding, and borne on a branched spike.

The Latin genus name comes from the Greek word 'ekhis' which means viper (a type of snake). Some sources say that this is due to the seeds resembling a viper' head. Others claim that the forking at the end of the thin flower style resembles a viper's tongue. It is also claimed that the plant roots when eaten with wine could provide a folk cure for a snake bit. The Latin specific epithet plantagineum then refers to the leaves of the plant which are similar to those of a plantain.

Echnium plantagineum has become an invasive species in Australia, where it is also known as Salvation Jane (particularly in South Australia), blueweed, Lady Campbell weed, Paterson's Curse and Riverina bluebell.

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Wikipedia