Wildflowers and weeds: Viper’s bugloss

By Shauna Dobbie.

Viper’s bugloss growing with abandon along a roadway in Quebec.

Viper’s bugloss seems like an ugly name for what is really a pretty plant. It is hairy, along its stems and leaves, which gives it part of its unpleasant name; “bugloss” has nothing to do with losing bugs. It’s the anglicization of the Greek word for “ox tongue”. The hairs can be quite bristly, presumably like an ox tongue, and will cause contact dermatitis in some sensitive individuals.

This is a plant that you see in dry ditches when you’re driving down the highway in June, July and August. While you’ll definitely see it in southern Ontario, it is found in every province. It rises like a tower among other tough plants, with beautiful clear-blue blooms along the stem and growing to a couple of feet high. It’s in the same family as borage, though viper’s bugloss is known in scholarly circles as Echium vulgare while borage is in the genus Anchusa.

Viper’s bugloss originated in Europe, where it grows from southern Sweden and England all the way south to Spain and west to Asia. It came to North America from other gardeners who, like me, thought it was pretty enough for their borders. It certainly did not come to North America with farmers of horses or cattle because it contains toxic compounds that build up in their livers and can kill them.

In people, though, it seems to be harmless enough. It is noted as a mucilaginous substitute for spinach, either cooked or raw, though it is recommended that eaters chop it finely so that the hairs aren’t so apparent. Medicinally, the leaves were touted as an antidote to viper bites (venomous snake bites), which gives it the other part of its name.

The plant has other medicinal uses as well, though isn’t used very often. It has been noted as good for fevers, headaches and chest issues, and is reputed to be helpful in the boudoir as an aphrodisiac. Red dye can be made from the roots, too.

It loves sun and just about any soil that isn’t too rich or too dry. A biennial, it will grow a rosette of leaves in the first year and return with flowers in the second.

A pretty plant with blooms along the stem.

Photo credit to Kasjanek.