''Pentaglottis'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family

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 ...

. It is represented by a single species, ''Pentaglottis sempervirens'', commonly known as the green alkanet, evergreen bugloss or alkanet, and is a bristly,

perennial plant 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 ...

native to Western Europe. It grows to approximately 60 cm (24") to 90 cm (36"), usually in damp or shaded places and often close to buildings. It has brilliant blue flowers, and retains its green leaves through the winter. The plant has difficulty growing in acidic soil (it is calcicolous). The name "alkanet" is also used for dyer's bugloss (''

Alkanna tinctoria ''Alkanna tinctoria'', the dyer's alkanet or simply alkanet, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. Its roots are used to produce a red dye. The plant is also known as dyers' bugloss, orchanet, Spanish bugloss, or La ...

'') and common bugloss (''

Anchusa officinalis ''Anchusa officinalis'', commonly known as the common bugloss or alkanet, is a plant species in the genus ''Anchusa''. The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per u ...

''). Green alkanet is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

.http://www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=Flora&Flora. loraNo236800 The word "alkanet" derives from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

, from

Old Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...

''alcaneta'', diminutive of ''alcana'', "henna", from Medieval Latin ''alchanna'', from Arabic ''al-ḥinnā’'', "

henna Henna is a dye prepared from the plant ''Lawsonia inermis'', also known as the henna tree, the mignonette tree, and the Egyptian privet, the sole species of the genus ''Lawsonia''. ''Henna'' can also refer to the temporary body art resulting fr ...

" : ''al-'': "the" + ''ḥinnā’'', "henna". The genus name ''Pentaglottis'' is

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, meaning "five tongues", and the species name ''sempervirens'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and means "always alive", or "evergreen". Green alkanet blooms in spring and early summer. Its stamens are hidden inside narrow flower-tubes which end in a white eye in the centre of a blue flower. Image:Pentaglottis sempervirens0.jpg, Flower close-up Image:Pentaglottis sempervirens1.jpg, Stalk and flowers Image:Pentaglottis sempervirens.jpg, Flower close-up

References

Plants For A Future ''Pentaglottis sempervirens''
Boraginoideae Plant dyes Boraginaceae genera {{Asterid-stub