''Echium vulcanorum'' is a species of flowering plants of the family
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution.
The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...
. The species is endemic to
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
.
[OromÃ, MartÃn, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : ]
Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animales Terrestres.
' Gobierno de Canarias, ConsejerÃa de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, p. 41 It is listed as an endangered plant by the IUCN.
The species was first described in 1935 by
Auguste Chevalier.
Its local name is ''lÃngua-de-vaca'' (cow tongue), a name that may also refer to the related species ''
Echium hypertropicum'' and ''
Echium stenosiphon''.
[Plantas endémicas e arvores indÃgenas de Cabo Verde]
/ref> The oil of its seeds contains γ-linolenic acid, and is used for medicinal and dietary purposes.
Description
The plant is a very branched shrub that reaches 1–2 m height. Its leaves are lanceolate and 5-7 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide. Its flowers are white, rarely bluish.[ Although the plant can have flowers all year long, the most display occurs in the spring when the plant is covered in enormous, cone-shaped clusters of blossoms. Each funnel-shaped blossom has blue streaks radiating from its center and is pearly white with a length of little under an inch. Bees are very fond of the blossoms. ''Echium vulcanorum'' is a long-lived species that flower beautifully for several years, in contrast to many ''Echium'' species that only flower once before dying.]
Distribution and ecology
''Echium vulcanorum'' is restricted to the island of Fogo, where it occurs between 1,600 and 2,400 m elevation, in semi-arid zones.[
]
References
Further reading
*''The endemic vascular plants of the Cape Verde Islands, W Africa, Sommerfeltia 24, 1997, C. Brochmann, Ø. H. Rustan, W. Lobin & N. Kilian, ISSN 0800-6865,
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1329363
vulcanorum
Endemic flora of Cape Verde
Flora of Fogo, Cape Verde
Taxa named by Auguste Chevalier