Echium

Echium /ˈɛkiəm/[1] is a genus of approximately 70 species and several subspecies of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. The type species is Echium vulgare.

Echium
Echium vulgare
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Subfamily: Boraginoideae
Genus: Echium
L.
Species

See text

Echium auberianum
Echium candicans
Echium judaeum
Echium rauwolfii
Flowers of Echium hierrense, a species that is native to El Hierro.
Echium asperrimum

Species of Echium are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia and the Macaronesian islands, where it reaches its maximum diversity. There are 27 known species of Echium endemic to the Canary, Madeira, and Cape Verde archipelagos. The continental species are herbaceous, whereas all but two of the endemic species of the Macaronesian islands are woody perennial shrubs.[2]

Etymology

The Latin genus name comes from the Greek word εχισ (echis) meaning a viper, and dates to Dioscorides who noted a resemblance between the shape of the nutlets to a viper’s head.[3] Others claim that the forking at the end of the thin flower style resembles a viper's tongue. The genus Echium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Cultivation and uses

Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world.

In Crete Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.[4]

Echium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onosmella and orange swift.

The seed oil from Echium plantagineum 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.[5]

Invasiveness

Some species have been widely naturalized in Mediterranean climates, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and parts of the United States.[6] For example, Echium plantagineum, has become a major invasive species in Australia.

Species
  1. Echium acanthocarpum Svent.
  2. Echium aculeatum Poir.
  3. Echium albicans Lag. & Rodr.
  4. Echium amoenum Fisch. & C.A.Mey
  5. Echium anchusoides Bacch., Brullo & Selvi
  6. Echium angustifolium Lam.
  7. Echium arenarium Guss.
  8. Echium asperrimum Lam.
  9. Echium auberianum Webb & Berthel.
  10. Echium bethencourtii Santos.
  11. Echium biebersteinii Lacaita.
  12. Echium boissieri Steud.
  13. Echium bonnetii Coincy.
  14. Echium brevirame Sprague & Hutch.
  15. Echium callithyrsum Webb ex Bolle.
  16. Echium candicans L.f.
  17. Echium canum Emb. & Maire
  18. Echium clandestinum Pomel
  19. Echium creticum L.
  20. Echium decaisnei Webb & Berthel.
  21. Echium flavum Desf.
  22. Echium gaditanum Boiss.
  23. Echium giganteum L.f.
  24. Echium glomeratum Poir.
  25. Echium handiense Svent.
  26. Echium hierrense Webb ex Bolle
  27. Echium horridum Batt.
  28. Echium humile Desf.
  29. Echium hypertropicum Webb.
  30. Echium italicum L.
  31. Echium judaeum Lacaita.
  32. Echium khuzistanicum Mozaff.
  33. Echium × lemsii G.Kunkel.
  34. Echium leucophaeum Webb ex Sprague & Hutch.
  35. Echium × lidii G.Kunkel
  36. Echium longifolium Delile.
  37. Echium lusitanicum L.
  38. Echium modestum Ball.
  39. Echium nervosum W.T. Aiton
  40. Echium onosmifolium Webb & Berthel.
  41. Echium orientale L.
  42. Echium pabotii Mouterde.
  43. Echium parviflorum Moench
  44. Echium petiolatum Barratte & Coincy.
  45. Echium pininana Webb et Berthel.
  46. Echium pitardii A.Chev.
  47. Echium plantagineum L.
  48. Echium portosanctense J.A.Carvalho, Pontes, Bat.-Marques & R.Jardim
  49. Echium rauwolfii Delile.
  50. Echium rosulatum Lange
  51. Echium rubrum Forssk.
  52. Echium sabulicola Pomel.
  53. Echium salmanticum Lag.
  54. Echium simplex DC.
  55. Echium spurium Lojac.
  56. Echium stenosiphon Webb.
  57. Echium strictum L.f.
  58. Echium suffruticosum Barratte.
  59. Echium sventenii Bramwell.
  60. Echium x taibiquense P.Wolff & Rosinski.
  61. Echium tenue Roth.
  62. Echium thyrsiflorum Masson ex Link.
  63. Echium triste Svent.
  64. Echium trygorrhizum Pomel.
  65. Echium tuberculatum Hoffmanns. & Link.
  66. Echium velutinum Coincy.
  67. Echium virescens DC.
  68. Echium vulcanorum A.Chev.
  69. Echium vulgare L.
  70. Echium webbii Coincy.
  71. Echium wildpretii Pears. ex Hook. fil.

References
  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. Böhle, U.-R., Hilger, H.H. & Martin, W.F. 2001. Island colonization and evolution of the insular woody habit in Echium L. (Boraginaceae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 93:11740-11745.
  3. Pusateri, W. P. and Blackwell, W. H., Jr. 1979. The Echium vulgare complex in eastern North America. Castanea 44: 223–229
  4. Kleonikos G. Stavridakis , Κλεόνικος Γ. Σταυριδάκης (2006). Wild edible plants of Crete - Η Άγρια βρώσιμη χλωρίδα της Κρήτης. Rethymnon Crete. ISBN 960-631-179-1.
  5. National Non-Food Crops Centre. NNFCC Crop Factsheet: Echium
  6. https://www.cal-ipc.org/plants/risk/echium-plantagineum-risk/
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