Echium pininana

Taxobox

---

name = Tree Echium, Giant Viper's bugloss, Pine echium
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
familia = Boraginaceae
genus = "Echium"
species = "E. pininana"
binomial = "Echium pininanas"
binomial_authority = L.f.

Echium pininana, also called Tree Echium, Pine echium and Giant Viper's bugloss, is a plant, native to 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. pininana is a biennial or triennial, showing little more than leaf in the first year, but subsequently produces a dense, 4 metre high (potentially) flower spike that carries a dense mass of leaves and small blue flowers.

The recommendation is that the plant is suited for the southern maritime counties of England. There are, however, reports of successful cultivation in the English Midlands and Yorkshire, albeit in favourable locations. Specimens are also grown in Dublin gardens and in the Irish National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin. Although E. pininana is half-hardy in Britain and Ireland, it will self-seed to form clusters of plants, and it's suggested that by natural selection a hardier variety will emerge.

External links

* [http://www.wildchicken.com/nature/garden/nature_200_136.htm Garden plant information]
* [http://www.earlscliffe.com/echium_pininana.htm Increase Of Cold Hardiness Of Echium Pininana Through Natural Selection]