Echium pininana Giant Viper's-bugloss

A  biennial or short-lived perennial which forms a robust rosette of silvery-hairy leaves that gives rise to a shoot which can be much as 4m tall and which produces an elongated inflorescence of blue flowers. It is endemic to the Canary Islands but can be cultivated in gardens in more northern, temperate regions in places that have mild climates. It produces lots of seed under suitable conditions and seems to be reponding favourably to mild winters and climate warming in north temperate regions, particularly in coastal locations. It has a scattered, largely coastal distrubution in Britain and is most common in the southwest and particularly in Cornwall. There are several records from Swansea and Gower in West Glamorgan, where it is most frequently encountered along south Gower coast.

Neophyte