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Wikipedia

Echium

Echium /ˈɛkiəm/[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that contains about 70 species and several subspecies.

Echium
Echium vulgare
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Subfamily: Boraginoideae
Genus: Echium
Tourn. ex L. (1753)
Type species
Echium vulgare
Species[1]

68; see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Argyrexias Raf. (1838)
  • Echion St.-Lag. (1880), orth. var.
  • Isoplesion Raf. (1838)
  • Larephes Raf. (1838)
Echium auberianum
Echium candicans ('Pride of Madeira')
Echium judaeum
Echium horridum
Echium rauwolfii
Flowers of Echium hierrense, a species native to El Hierro.
Echium angustifolium in Cyprus

Species of Echium are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia, and the Macaronesian islands where the genus reaches its maximum diversity. Twenty-nine species of Echium are endemic to the Canary, Madeira, and Cape Verde archipelagos.[3] The continental species are herbaceous, whereas many of the endemic species of the Macaronesian islands are woody perennial shrubs.[4]

Etymology

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The Latin genus name Echium comes from the Greek ἔχιον echion, referring to Echium plantagineum[5] and itself deriving from ἔχις echis (viper); the Greek term dates to Dioscorides, who noted a resemblance between the shape of the nutlets and a viper's head.[6] The genus Echium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Cultivation and uses

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Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world.[1] In Crete, Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.[7]

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

In some countries Echium extract has been used as cure for various diseases and is believed to have beneficial properties.

Echium seed oil

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The seed oil from E. plantagineum contains high levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid, and stearidonic acid, making it valuable in cosmetic and skin-care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils.[8] However, despite its high ALA content, Echium seed oil does not increase docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid levels.[9]

Invasiveness

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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.[10]

Species

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68 species are accepted.[1]

  1. Echium acanthocarpum Svent.
  2. Echium aculeatum Poir.
  3. Echium albicans Lag. & Rodr.
  4. Echium amoenum Fisch. & C.A.Mey
  5. Echium anchusoides Bacch., Brullo & Selvi
  6. Echium angustifolium Lam.
  7. Echium arenarium Guss.
  8. Echium asperrimum Lam.
  9. Echium auberianum Webb & Berthel.
  10. Echium × bailaderense A.A.Weller
  11. Echium bethencourtii A.Santos
  12. Echium boissieri Steud.
  13. Echium × bond-spraguei Sprague & Hutch.
  14. Echium bonnetii Coincy
  15. Echium brevirame Sprague & Hutch.
  16. Echium callithyrsum Webb ex Bolle
  17. Echium candicans L.f.
  18. Echium canum Emb. & Maire
  19. Echium clandestinum Pomel
  20. Echium creticum L.
  21. Echium decaisnei Webb & Berthel.
  22. Echium flavum Desf.
  23. Echium gaditanum Boiss.
  24. Echium giganteum L.f.
  25. Echium glomeratum Poir.
  26. Echium handiense Svent.
  27. Echium hierrense Webb ex Bolle
  28. Echium horridum Batt.
  29. Echium humile Desf.
  30. Echium hypertropicum Webb
  31. Echium italicum L.
  32. Echium judaeum Lacaita
  33. Echium khuzistanicum Mozaff.
  34. Echium × lemsii G.Kunkel
  35. Echium leucophaeum (Webb ex Christ) Webb ex Sprague & Hutch.
  36. Echium × lidii G.Kunkel
  37. Echium longifolium Delile
  38. Echium lusitanicum L.
  39. Echium modestum Ball
  40. Echium montenielluense Delage
  41. Echium nervosum W.T.Aiton
  42. Echium onosmifolium Webb & Berthel.
  43. Echium pabotii Mouterde
  44. Echium parviflorum Moench
  45. Echium perezii Sprague
  46. Echium petiolatum Barratte & Coincy
  47. Echium pininana Webb et Berthel.
  48. Echium pitardii A.Chev.
  49. Echium plantagineum L.
  50. Echium portosanctense J.A.Carvalho, Pontes, Bat.-Marques & R.Jardim
  51. Echium rauwolfii Delile
  52. Echium rosulatum Lange
  53. Echium rubrum Forssk.
  54. Echium sabulicola Pomel
  55. Echium salmanticum Lag.
  56. Echium simplex DC.
  57. Echium spurium Lojac.
  58. Echium stenosiphon Webb
  59. Echium strictum L.f.
  60. Echium suffruticosum Barratte
  61. Echium sventenii Bramwell
  62. Echium x taibiquense P.Wolff & Rosinski
  63. Echium tenue Roth
  64. Echium thyrsiflorum Masson ex Link
  65. Echium triste Svent.
  66. Echium trygorrhizum Pomel
  67. Echium tuberculatum Hoffmanns. & Link
  68. Echium velutinum Coincy
  69. Echium virescens DC.
  70. Echium vulcanorum A.Chev.
  71. Echium vulgare L.
  72. Echium webbii Coincy
  73. Echium wildpretii H.Pearson ex Hook.f.

Formerly placed here

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Echium Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  2. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book. Sunset Books. 1995. pp. 606–607. ISBN 9780376038500.
  3. ^ da Costa, Ricardo Pires (2019). The pollinator community of the Madeiran endemic Echium candicans: individual-based network metrics, relation with plant traits, and pollinator behaviour (PDF) (Master's thesis). University of Lisbon.
  4. ^ Böhle, Uta-Regina; Hilger, Hartmut H.; Martin, William F. (October 1996). "Island colonization and evolution of the insular woody habit in Echium L. (Boraginaceae)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 93 (21): 11740–11745. Bibcode:1996PNAS...9311740B. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.21.11740. PMC 38128. PMID 8876207.
  5. ^ ἔχιον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  6. ^ Pusateri, William P.; Blackwell, Jr., Will H. (December 1979). "The Echium vulgare Complex in Eastern North America". Castanea. 44 (4): 223–229. JSTOR 4033180 – via JSTOR.
  7. ^ Stavridakis, Kleonikos G. (2006). Η Άγρια βρώσιμη χλωρίδα της Κρήτης [Wild Edible Plants of Crete] (in English and Greek) (Bilingual ed.). K.G. Stav̲ridaki̲s. ISBN 9789606311796.
  8. ^ "Echium Crop Fact Sheet". nlaf.uk. June 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  9. ^ Lane, Katie E.; Wilson, Megan; Hellon, Teuta G.; Davies, Ian G. (February 12, 2021). "Bioavailability and conversion of plant based sources of omega-3 fatty acids – a scoping review to update supplementation options for vegetarians and vegans". Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 62 (18): 4982–4997. doi:10.1080/10408398.2021.1880364. PMID 33576691. S2CID 231899843.
  10. ^ Wolf, Kristina (June 12, 2016). "Echium plantagineum Risk Assessment". California Invasive Plant Council.
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