Flora of Israel: Tall Viper’s-bugloss

Echium glomeratum, Tall Viper’s-bugloss,
Hebrew: עכנאי מגובב, Arabic: حميم

Scientific name:   Echium glomeratum Poiret
Common name:   Tall Viper’s-bugloss
Hebrew name:   עכנאי מגובב
Arabic name:   حميم
Family:   Boraginaceae, זיפניים


Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Stems:   60-200 cm; one main and several side stems from a basal leaf rosette
Leaves:   Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:   Axillary clusters of densely packed pink flowers
Flowers:   Pink
Fruits / pods:   Nutlets
Flowering Period:   April, May, June
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Echium, echis, “a viper,” the nutlets appearing to represent a viper’s head.

glomeratum, collected closely together into a head.
Bugloss(Greek origin), means ox tongue, apparently because of the roughness of the leaves.
The hebrew word עכנאי, akhnai, by the foreign name echium, derived from echis, a viper.

  • The standard author abbreviation Poiret is used to indicate Jean Louis Marie Poiret (1755 – 1834), a French clergyman, botanist and explorer.