''Echium candicans'', the 'Pride of Madeira', is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Boraginaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the island of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. It is a large

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

, growing to . In the first year after germination, the plant produces a broad rosette of leaves. In the second and subsequent years, more or less woody flowering stalks are produced clothed in rough leaves. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''candicans'' means "shining white", referring to one colour form of this species.

Description

It grows as a 1 to 2 meter high shrub, usually with a

candelabra A candelabra (plural candelabras) or candelabrum (plural candelabra or candelabrums) is a candle holder with multiple arms. Although electricity has relegated candleholders to decorative use, interior designers continue to model light fixtures ...

-like growth habit. The inflorescences are not on the terminal shoot, but terminally on side shoots. The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is whitish and peels off the shoots like paper. The short-stalked leaves are lanceolate to

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

-lanceolate and long pointed at the end, they reach a maximum length of about 25 centimeters and a width of 2 to 4 centimeters.D. Bramwell (1972): ''A revision of the genus Echium in Macaronesia.'' In: ''Lagascalia.'' Bd. 2(1), S. 37–115
online verfügbar
.José Augusto Carvalho, Tânia Pontes, Maria Isabel Batista-Marques, Roberto Jardim (2010): ''A new species of Echium (Boraginaceae) from the island of Porto Santo (Madeira Archipelago).'' In: ''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid.'' Bd. 67(2), S. 87–96, . The lower leaves are more than five times as long as the upper ones. The adaxial side of the leaf blade (facing the shoot) is dark green, the axial side is slightly lighter green in color with prominent veins, all parts are protruding dense and soft, relatively long, velvety hairy.

Inflorescences

Many flowers and

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

are in a dense, narrow, elongated inflorescence, which reach 10 to 25, maximum 47 centimeters in length. The

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

, sessile flowers are fivefold with a double

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

and are weakly

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

, unlike the flowers of most other genera in the

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the order ...

. They are colored blue or purple, and would appear from spring to summer. The calyx is 4 to 5 millimeters long, green in color without darker veins and hairy, with lanceolate, pointed calyx lobes. The corolla is blue to violet, often with a white stripe on each apex, the flower tube is 9 to 11 millimeters long, the apex is rounded or truncated at the end. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are pink, the anthers whitish. The

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

is large and covered with white or blue flowers having red stamens. The flower head is much visited by bees and butterflies for its nectar.

Distribution

The species is autochthonous only to Madeira and is absent from the other islands in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

. It grows relatively frequently there at an altitude of about 800 to 1200 meters in the central part of the island, at the upper end of the altitude range of the laurel forest and in open, heather-like vegetation.

Cultivation

''E. candicans'' is cultivated in the

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

trade and widely available throughout the world as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

for traditional and

drought-tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, detox ...

, water-conserving gardens. It is particularly suitable for coastal planting. With a temperature requirement of no less than , it needs some winter protection in frost-prone areas. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Invasive species

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, it is considered an invasive species. It is removed from native plant communities as part of habitat restoration efforts in coastal parks such as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, it is a common garden escapee onto roadside verges and shingle banks throughout the drier parts of both the North and the South Islands. In the

state of Victoria Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

, Australia, it is considered to be a high weed risk and an alert has been posted by the Department of Primary Industries.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2709778 candicans Flora of Madeira Flora of Portugal Garden plants of Africa Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus the Younger Habitats Directive Species