ANCHUSA ARVENSIS
Common Names:- Small bugloss, Field bugloss
Homotypic synonyms:- Buglossa arvensis, Buglossites arvensis,
Lycopsis arvensis
Meaning:- Anchusa (Gr) Strangler or close. A name given by the Greek playwright
Aristophanes to an alkanet yielding red dye.
Arvense(L) Of the cultivated/ploughed field.
General description:- Annual or occasionally biennial flowering plant. Native to
Europe and Eurasia, commonly found in disturbed soils, fields, and roadsides.
Stems:-
1) 15 to 50 cm., erect, ascending, or sprawling branched stems. Heavily covered in
stiff, bristly white hairs that spring from swollen, warty, or bulbous bases, making
the whole plant feel rough to the touch.
Leaves:-
1) Alternate along the stem, narrowly lanceolate to oblong or lance-linear, margins
entire to undulate or shallowly sinuate-toothed. Wrinkled and rough, matching the
stems with bristly hairs.
a) lower, petiolate.
b) upper, sessile and slightly stem-clasping.
Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence, dense, leafy, spike-like or scorpioid cymes that are
characteristically curved or coiled at the tip, uncurling as new flowers open.
2) Calyx, deeply divided into five narrow, pointed, bristly teeth.
3) Corolla, small (about 6 to 8 mm across), funnel or salver-shaped, featuring a
distinct, characteristic bent or curved tube.
4) Petals, 5 rounded lobes, brilliant sky-blue to pale blue or violet-blue, with five
whitish, pubescent scales (appendages) blocking the throat.
5) Stamens,5, short, enclosed within the corolla tube.
Fruit:-
1) Nutlets, dry, rugose, in a cluster of 4, sitting enclosed in the persistent calyx.
Featuring a basal attachment scar often adapted with an elaiosome-like structure
for dispersal by ants
Toxicity:- Contains toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It is harmful if eaten in large
amounts by humans or farm animals, though casual touch may only cause minor
skin irritation from its bristly hairs.
Habitat:- Prefers well-drained, light, mineral, or sandy soils; can also grow on
chalky or low-nutrient ground in crop fields, field margins, and recently plowed or
cultivated ground where soil disturbance brings buried seeds to the surface. Open
wasteland waste ground, bare patches, and neglected ruderal sites.
Distribution:- Widespread across most of Europe (including Scandinavia, Central
Europe, the Mediterranean islands, and eastern Europe) and parts of western Asia
like Armenia. widespread across England, particularly in the south and east, with
sparser populations extending into Wales and parts of Scotland. It is largely absent
or very scarce in Ireland and central/western Scotland.
Flowering time:- April to September.
Status:- Classified globally as unranked or not formally evaluated under the IUCN
Red List, but it is considered an established non-native or native agricultural weed
across Europe and parts of the UK
Photos by:- Saxifraga - Free nature images