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Tenerife Weekly - 12th July 2013 - 18th July 2013
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gardening and Nature By Steve Andrews - aka Green Bard
The Viper’s Bugloss Species of Tenerife Echium giganteum
Echium simplex
Echium plantagineum
Echium wildpretii
If you visit Mt Teide in spring or early summer you can’t help but being amazed, not only by its picturesque scenery that looks like another world, but also by the strange flowering plants growing there. The Mount Teide Bugloss (Echium wildpretii), Red Bugloss or Taginaste Rojo, as it is called in Spanish, is sure to make a lasting impression with its tall flowering spikes carried high above the dry and rocky ground.
It is a very rare plant that only grows high on Mt Teide and also around the mountain village of Vilaflor, although a subspecies trichosiphon can also be found on some of the mountains of La Palma. It is often cultivated in gardens though and the seeds in packets are available for sale in tourist and garden-
ing shops around the island. It forms a rosette of leaves in the first year of its life and in the second it produces a sturdy inflorescence that can reach 2.m or more in height. Each flowering spike is covered in thousands of small red blooms and looks really spectacular. A group of them in flower adds to the weird otherworldly feel of the higher ranges of the highest mountain in Spain. Because of this there are countless paintings and photographs of Mt Teide featuring this unmistakable plant. But actually its form is typical of the Echium genus to which it belongs and which Tenerife can boast to having many representatives of. Arrebol (E. simplex) grows from a rosette of long leaves and produces a tall flowering spike but in its case the flowers are white. This species is also very rare in the wild and is only found on some cliffs and mountains in the Anaga Range. Like the closely related species, however, it is often seen in plant borders in parks and
gardens. For example, there are some in the Parque del Drago in Icod de los Vinos. The bushy E. giganteum grows to 2.5 m and also has white flowers. It is found in many coastal and lower mountainous regions in the north of Tenerife. It is often seen growing in shrub borders too where it has been planted for its ornamental value. The very similar E. leucophaeum is locally common in some parts of the northern coast. Its flowering spikes are shorter and more dome-shaped. E. aculeatum is like a miniature version of these last two species and again has white flowers. It is only found in certain locations in the lower zone, though where it does grow it is quite common. This species can be easily spotted around the Santiago del Teide area, for example. E. virescens is another large bushy species. It has pinkish or blue flowers carried in well-formed and showy spikes, and is often found in forested areas and on the slopes of mountains in the north and south of the island. It forms big clumps and
Echium aculeatum
blooms in spring. Another blue-flowered species is the Taginaste Picante (E. auberianum). It is very rare and has short stems. It is only found in some parts of the sub-alpine zone of Mt Teide and other Tenerife highlands. By contrast E. plantagineum is so common in many places that it is treated as an invasive weed. It has pretty purplish-blue flowers and often forms large patches in fields and farmland. Unlike all of the species mentioned so far, E. triste is a spindly plant with small pinkish flowers that is not likely to impress. “Triste” means sad in Spanish and it is aptly named. It grows in dry rocky ground on mountain slopes and coastal areas in the south of Tenerife. E. strictum is a very variable species of Viper’s Bugloss. It grows to around 1 km in height and has pinkish or bluish flowers. It is locally common in some forested parts of the island such as around villages in the
Anaga Mountains. The other Canary Islands have their own endemic Echium species too and back in Britain there is the Viper’s Bugloss (E.vulgare). It has blue flowers and tends to grow on waste ground and in sand dunes. All of the Viper’s Bugloss species produce small hard seeds that are in groups of four and look like very tiny nuts. The plants all produce a lot of nectar too and attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Most types are biennials or shortlived perennials but some are annuals. Some of them have been used as medicinal herbs. In traditional Canary Islands folk medicine the leaves of some types have been made into infusions and poultices to bring relief for cases of joint pain and to treat fevers, coughs and headaches. Because of their attractive appearance most types of Viper’s Bugloss make great garden plants too. They certainly stand out!
Viper’s Bugloss Uses
Many of the Viper’s Bugloss species in the Echium genus have uses in herbal medicine and otherwise.
Several types are regarded as herbs that have been traditional remedies for many conditions. The plants also have astringent and diuretic properties. The seeds of Echium species contain gamma-linoleic acid (GLA) which is a steroid compound that has been shown to be an antioxidant and to be an anti-inflammatory substance. GLA is being tested as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
The shoots of Echium italicum are eaten as a vegetable in Crete where they are boiled and steamed. Ancient herbalists thought that the fruits of the Viper’s Bugloss resembled a snake’s head. Under the “Doctrine of Signatures,” which worked with the idea of using a similarity in a plant to a part of the body or medical condition as an indication that it was a remedy for this, they considered the herb as an antidote for the venom of a snake. This has not been shown to be the case but was once believed to be true.
Also known as the Bard of Ely, the Green Bard has a Green Beard, as can be seen in the photo. He is an expert on nature and loves to write about wildlife and conservation. He has a very wide knowledge of edible plants, foraging and herbs.
He was quoted as a “Weed expert” in The Ecologist. The Green Bard, though originally from Cardiff in Wales, is currently based in Tenerife where he has successfully reared many Monarch butterflies on plants grown on his apartment balcony. In May, 2012, at the English Library in Puerto de la Cruz he gave a talk on the Flora and Fauna of Tenerife to a full house and has been invited back to be a guest speaker again.
Keep up to date with him at: http://greenbard.hubpages.com/