Echium Decaisnei

''Echium'' is a genus of approximately 70 species and several subspecies of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae.

Species of ''Echium'' are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia, and the Macaronesian islands where the genus reaches its maximum diversity. 29 species of ''Echium'' are 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.

Etymology

The Latin genus name ''echium'' comes from the Greek ''echion'' referring to Echium plantagineum and itself deriving from ''echis'' "viper"; the Greek term dates to Dioscorides who noted a resemblance between the shape of the nutlets to a viper’s head. 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.

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

Echium seed oil

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. However, despite it's high ALA content, echium seed oil does not increase docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels.

Invasiveness

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

Species

#'' Echium acanthocarpum'' Svent.
#'' Echium aculeatum'' Poir.
#''Echium albicans'' Lag. & Rodr.
#'' Echium amoenum'' Fisch. & C.A.Mey
#'' Echium anchusoides'' Bacch., Brullo & Selvi
#''Echium angustifolium'' Lam.
#'' Echium arenarium'' Guss.
#'' Echium asperrimum'' Lam.
#''Echium auberianum'' Webb & Berthel.
#'' Echium bethencourtii'' Santos.
#'' Echium biebersteinii'' Lacaita.
#'' Echium boissieri'' Steud.
#'' Echium bonnetii'' Coincy.
#'' Echium brevirame'' Sprague & Hutch.
#'' Echium callithyrsum'' Webb ex Bolle.
#''Echium candicans'' L.f.
#'' Echium canum'' Emb. & Maire
#'' Echium clandestinum'' Pomel
#'' Echium creticum'' L.
#'' Echium decaisnei'' Webb & Berthel.
#''Echium flavum'' Desf.
#'' Echium gaditanum'' Boiss.
#'' Echium giganteum'' L.f.
#'' Echium glomeratum'' Poir.
#'' Echium handiense'' Svent.
#'' Echium hierrense'' Webb ex Bolle
#'' Echium horridum'' Batt.
#'' Echium humile'' Desf.
#''Echium hypertropicum'' Webb.
#''Echium italicum'' L.
#'' Echium judaeum'' Lacaita.
#'' Echium khuzistanicum'' Mozaff.
#'' Echium × lemsii'' G.Kunkel.
#'' Echium leucophaeum'' Webb ex Sprague & Hutch.
#'' Echium × lidii'' G.Kunkel
#'' Echium longifolium'' Delile.
#''Echium lusitanicum'' L.
#'' Echium modestum'' Ball.
#''Echium nervosum'' W.T. Aiton
#'' Echium onosmifolium'' Webb & Berthel.
#'' Echium orientale'' L.
#'' Echium pabotii'' Mouterde.
#'' Echium parviflorum'' Moench
#'' Echium petiolatum'' Barratte & Coincy.
#''Echium pininana'' Webb et Berthel.
#'' Echium pitardii'' A.Chev.
#''Echium plantagineum'' L.
#'' Echium portosanctense'' J.A.Carvalho, Pontes, Bat.-Marques & R.Jardim
#'' Echium rauwolfii'' Delile.
#'' Echium rosulatum'' Lange
#'' Echium rubrum'' Forssk.
#'' Echium sabulicola'' Pomel.
#'' Echium salmanticum'' Lag.
#'' Echium simplex'' DC.
#'' Echium spurium'' Lojac.
#''Echium stenosiphon'' Webb.
#''Echium strictum'' L.f.
#'' Echium suffruticosum'' Barratte.
#'' Echium sventenii'' Bramwell.
#'' Echium x taibiquense'' P.Wolff & Rosinski.
#'' Echium tenue'' Roth.
#'' Echium thyrsiflorum'' Masson ex Link.
#'' Echium triste'' Svent.
#'' Echium trygorrhizum'' Pomel.
#'' Echium tuberculatum'' Hoffmanns. & Link.
#'' Echium velutinum'' Coincy.
#''Echium virescens'' DC.
#''Echium vulcanorum'' A.Chev.
#'' Echium vulgare'' L.
#''Echium webbii'' Coincy.
#''Echium wildpretii'' Pears. ex Hook. fil.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q157711

Boraginaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus