Echium plantagineum L. (syn.: E. maritimum Willd.) – A rare and always ephemeral alien. First recorded on waste land in Liège in 1906. Furthermore collected in Vierset-Barse in 1937 (see Lambinon 1995 for an overview of early records). In 1999 and 2000 observed near a grain mill in Willebroek and in abundance in a worked-up (newly sown?) road verge of N49 motorway in Balgerhoeke (Eeklo) in 2001. In the past years (2011 and 2013) also seen near grain storages in the Antwerp port area and in Grobbendonk respectively.
Recent records of Echium plantagineum are apparently associated with at least two different vectors of introduction in Belgium (as grain aliens and as escapes from cultivation).
Echium plantagineum is an undesirable weed in many warm-temperate areas in the world, for instance in parts of Australia and southern Africa (see references).
Selected literature:
Burdon J.J. (1983) Demographic and genetic changes in populations of Echium plantagineum. J. Ecol. 71: 667-669.
Burdon J.J., Jarosz A.M. & Brown A.H.D. (1988) Temporal patterns of reproduction and outcrossing in weedy populations of Echium plantagineum. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 34: 81-92.
Butterfield L. (1999) Boscregan: last refuge of the purple viper's-bugloss? Brit. Wildlife 10(3): 166-171.
Corbet S.A. & Delfosse E.S. (1984) Honeybees and the nectar of Echium plantagineum L. in south-eastern Australia. Austral. J. Ecol. 9(2): 125-139.
Cuddy M. (1988) Purple viper's-bugloss (Echium plantagineum) at St Just. Botanical Cornwall Newsl. 2: 5-6.
Kruijer J.D. & Moeliono B.M. (1989) A competition for pollinators: differences in attractiveness between Echium vulgare L. and Echium plantagineum L. Acta Bot. Neerl. 38: 100-101.
Lambinon J. (1995) Notes taxonomiques, nomenclaturales et chorologiques relatives à la quatrième édition de la « Nouvelle Flore » de la Belgique et des régions voisines. 3. Données nouvelles sur des plantes adventices ou subspontanées en Belgique. Dumortiera 60: 1-36.
Perry G. & McNeill J. (1987) (878) Proposal to reject the name Echium lycopsis L. (Boraginaceae) with notes on the correct name for the weed Paterson's Curse (Purple Viper's Bugloss). Taxon 36(2): 483-492.
Piggin C.M. (1982) The biology of Australian weeds, 8. Echium plantagineum L. J. Austral. Inst. Agric. Sci. 48: 3-16.
Retief E. & Van Wyk A.E. (1998) The genus Echium (Boraginaceae) in southern Africa. Bothalia 28(2): 167-177.
Scott J.K. & Kenneally K.F. (1981) The distribution of Boraginaceae in Western Australia in relation to the biological control of Echium plantagineum L. West. Austral. Herb. Res. Notes 5: 81-109.