Viper's Bugloss, Viborera

Biennial or monocarpic perennial plant growing to 30–80 cm tall, with rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves. The flowers start pink and turn vivid blue and are 15–20 mm in a branched spike, with all the stamens protruding. The pollen is blue but the filaments of the stamens remain red, contrasting against the blue flowers. It flowers between May and September. It is found in dry, bare and waste places. Echium is grown as an oilseed crop because of the fatty acid composition of the seed oil. Like borage and evening primrose oil, it contains significant amounts of gamma linolenic acid (GLA), but it also contains the rarer stearidonic acid (SdA).