E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Anchusa officinalis L.
alkanet (common bugloss)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #13926)

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Distribution of Anchusa officinalis
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Species Information

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General:
Biennial or perennial herb from a taproot, softly spreading-hairy; stems often several, 30-80 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal and lower leaves stalked, oblanceolate, 6-20 cm long (stalk included) and 1-2.5 cm wide, the others gradually reduced upwards, becoming unstalked and more lanceolate, alternate, entire.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a coiled cluster; petals blue-purple, fused into a tube 6-11 mm long that spreads (6-11 mm wide) at the top to 5 tooth-shaped lobes, throat closed by 5 white, hairy bulges; calyx lobes 5, lanceolate, stiff-hairy.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, horizontal, squat, asymmetric or conical, concave and with a thickened rim at the base, 2 mm high, 3-4 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry roadsides and waste places in the lowland, steppe and lower montane zones; rare in SC BC and S Vancouver Island; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Anchusa officinalis

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
Site Information
 Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 879 879 879
Slope Gradient (%) 15 15 15
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		210 210 210
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		4 4 4
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 1
Modal BEC Zone Class
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in:

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Anchusa procera Besser ex Link

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links


Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-05 9:33:46 PM ]
Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.
© E-Flora BC: An initiative of the Spatial Data Lab, Department of Geography UBC, and the UBC Herbarium.