Patterson's Curse
Echium plantagineum
NEMBA: Category 1b
English: Patterson's Curse, Franklin Weed, Purple Echium, Salvation Jane, Purple Viper's Bugloss
Afrikaans: Pers-echium, Bloudisseldoring, Natterkop
Echium plantagineum, commonly known as Paterson's Curse or Purple Viper's-bugloss, is a rosette-forming biennial herb with hairy leaves and showy purple flowers. This plant is a significant invasive weed in South Africa, where it competes with native plants for resources and can poison livestock.
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Origins: Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia
Overall Appearance: A rosette-forming biennial herb with rough, hairy leaves and showy purple flowers growing up to 60 cm high.
Leaves: Basal leaves form a rosette, large, lance-shaped, and covered in rough, white hairs. Stem leaves are smaller and more lanceolate.
Flowers: Numerous small, tubular, purple flowers arranged in dense, showy spikes from spring to autumn.
Fruits: Small, dry, nutlets (four per flower).
Seeds: Numerous, small, and easily dispersed by wind, water, and animals.
Soil Type: Tolerates a wide range of soil types.
Aspect: Full sun to partial shade.
Poisonous Parts: Contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are toxic to livestock.
Provinces Affected: Widespread in South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
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Plant type
Plant family:
Boraginaceae (hairy clothes, possibly (the leaves)) - Order: Boraginales