Anchusa officinalis, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1972, Flora Europaea. Volume 3. Diapensiacea to Myoporaceae, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press : 107

10. A. officinalis L. , Sp. Pl. 133 (1753)

(inch A. procera Besser ex Link ).

Perennial, rarely biennial, hispid with uniform hairs or setae; stems 20-80(-170) cm, erect. Leaves 50-120 x 10-20 mm. Cymes several, dense; pedicels very short, up to 5 mm in fruit; bracts equalling or shorter than calyx. Calyx 5-7 mm, up to 10 mm in fruit, divided to J way or almost to the base into lanceolate, acute lobes. Corolla violet or reddish, rarely white or yellow; tube 5-7 mm, equalling or up to 1 | times as long as calyx; limb 7-15 mm in diameter; stamens inserted in upper half of tube and reaching or partly overlapping scales. Nutlets c. 2 x 4 mm, obliquely ovoid. 2n = 16 + 0-2B. Much o f Europe, but absent from the extreme north, much o f the west, and parts o f the Mediterranean region. Al Au BI Bu Co Cz Da Ga Ge G r He Ho Hu It Ju *No Po Rm Rs (*N, B, C, W, E) Su Tu [*Be *Fe], A. davidovii Stoj. , Bull. Inst. Roy. Hist. Nat. (Sofia) 6: 210 (1933), from S.W. Bulgaria (Rila Planina), is a dwarf variant of 10 with smaller, pale blue flowers and corolla-tube shorter than the calyx.

A. velenovskyi (Guçuleac) Stoj. , op. cit. 211 (1933), from the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, has the calyx 3-5 mm, with obtuse teeth and large pale blue or purplish flowers; it requires further investigation.