PURPLE GROMWELL

Aegonychon purpureocaeruleum

(Formerly: Buglossoides purpureocaerulea)
(Which was formerly: Lithospermum purpureocaeruleum)
Family [Boraginaceae]

month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8aug

status
statusZnative

flower
flower8blue
flower
flower8purple
inner
inner8purple
morph
morph8hemizygo
petals
petalsZ5
type
typeZtrumpet
stem
stem8round
toxicity
toxicityZmedium
contact
contactZlowish
rarity
rarityZrare
sex
sexZbisexual

~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The leaves are variable in size and linear-lanceolate. The flowers have a tubular sepal cup with long narrow sepal teeth before the blue, tubular flower emerges and 5 rounded petals splay out. The anthers and stigmas remain hidden deep within the tube of the flower.

Purple Gromwell is quite different from the similarly named Purple Viper's-bugloss which has purple and pink flowers in a long flowering spike. The flower itself is a fairly long tapered tube with the opening at the top cut at angle. Within the opening are the long anthers of Purple Viper's-bugloss (hidden in Purple Gromwell). The stem leaves of Purple Viper's-bugloss , which only go as far up the stem as the first flower or sepal cup, are also all the same length, almost clasp the base of the stem and are more rounded at the tip. However, the larger leaves around the base of the plant are similar to those of Purple Gromwell.



~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
It is a perennial with rhizomes and long procumbent stolons which root at the apex. It grows erect up to 60cm high.


~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The flowers are 11 to 16mm across and are purple to blue.


~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The stems have longer hairs than do the leaves where they are stubbly short.


~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The sepal teeth are long and linear, with gaps between them which are as wide as the teeth themselves. The sepals too are hairy. The sepal teeth reach up to or beyond the blue tubular part of the flower before the five petals splay outwards.


~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The anthers and style are deep within the tubular part of the flower unseen from many angles.


~2010, coastal footpath, Sidmouth, Devon. Photo: © FoxyLady
The leaves seem to have at least some slight pimples (glands?) where the short hairs emerge (centre, bottom).
The sepal cups are very short in relation to the long, narrow sepal teeth, which splay out when reaching the petals of the flowers (top, right).


Not to be confused with : Purple Viper's Bugloss (Echium plantagineum) [a plant with similar name which also has blue (to purple) flowers but is taller, hairier and with short, stiff stem hairs with a gland at their bases like those of Viper's Bugloss]

Purple Gromwell is alone in the Aegonychon genera rather than the new Buglossoides genus for Field Gromwell (Buglossoides arvensis) where that is home alone, or the Echium genus for the four Viper's-buglosses - namely Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare), Lax Viper's-bugloss (Echium rosulatum), Giant Viper's-bugloss (Echium pininana) and Purple Viper's-bugloss (Echium plantagineaum).

The nutlets (unseen above) are white with a shiny smooth surface.

It is a native plant, but one which is now a very rare [RRR] and getting rarer. It is found on chalk or limestone soils in the margins of woods or in scrub, occurring very locally in South West England, in South and North Wales (your Author is not sure whether that excludes central Wales - but it can be mountainous in some regions there). It has disappeared from West Kent. It occurs scattered and naturalised elsewhere.


  Buglossoides purpureocaerulea  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒   

Distribution

 BSBI maps
genus8Buglossoides
Buglossoides
(Gromwells)

PURPLE GROMWELL

Aegonychon purpureocaeruleum

(Formerly: Buglossoides purpureocaerulea)
(Which was formerly: Lithospermum purpureocaeruleum)
Family [Boraginaceae]