Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare

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Viper's Bugloss, Echium vulgare

Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare, in the Norfolk Brecks.

I love Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare. It’s a plant that always makes me smile, because of its lovely flowers and because it brings back happy childhood memories. The first time I saw it was as a child of four or five at Newborough Warren on Anglesey, on holiday to visit my Welsh grandmother. It is a plant that normally teems with life and it is always worth checking the flowers for bees and butterflies.

At the end of June we walked from Santon to Brandon in the Brecks (see Note). It was very, very dry and vegetation was crispy underfoot. Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea) and Viper’s Bugloss were nearly the only plants in flower. Viper’s Bugloss was proving the most popular plant for insects and almost every flower spike was being visited by bumblebees and Small Skipper butterflies. There were often half a dozen butterflies per plant.

Newborough Warren and Breckland have one thing in common – well drained, sandy soil. In addition, Breckland also has very low rainfall. Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare, is well adapted to these conditions because it has a long tap root that reaches deep into the ground for water.

Echium vulgare is an erect, bristly plant which grows up to 75cm (about 30 inches) tall at maturity. It is a biennial, although it may take three rather than two years to flower. It will normally die after flowering. In its first year or two it forms a basal rosette of hairy, lance-shaped leaves. In its final year it produces dense cylindrical spikes of flowers, usually a main spike surrounded by several smaller ones. The flowers are violet-blue and bell-shaped and continue from early June throughout July and into August.

Echium vulgare is a member of the Borage family, Boraginaceae, and a relative of Green Alkanet, Pentaglottis sempervirens, which I wrote about in April 2017. The Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora lists the following places where it can be found: bare places on chalk and limestone downs, on heaths, in quarries and chalk-pits, in cultivated and waste land, along railways and roadsides, and by the coast on cliffs, sand dunes and shingle. The plant is native to most of Europe and temperate Asia but it has been introduced into the United States, where it is listed in the Invasive Plant Atlas. It is especially invasive in Montana, Washington and Wyoming and Montana State University has published an online pamphlet describing its biology. As it needs bare soil for the seeds to germinate, its presence can be a symptom of overgrazing.

In the UK, Viper’s Bugloss is a great plant for wildlife and will grow well in gardens if it is sunny and there is bare soil and there are named cultivars such as ‘Blue Bedder‘. Our garden has the right kind of soil but the garden faces north, so although Viper’s Bugloss does well in summer, it can die off if it is in an area of the garden that is in deep shade during winter. On our allotment Viper’s Bugloss does better, as the soil is the same but it is sunny all year round.

The name Viper’s Bugloss (sometimes given a hyphen, Viper’s-bugloss) comes from the plant’s snaky appearance. The flowers’ long red stamens look a bit like snakes’ tongues and the fruits are said to resemble adders’ heads.The stem is speckled, which is suggestive of snake skin. In the United States the plant is often known as Blueweed. A close relative, Echium plantagineum, Purple Viper’s Bugloss, sometimes occurs as an arable weed in the British Isles. It is known in Australia as Paterson’s Curse, having allegedly been introduced in the 1880s by a Jane Paterson as a garden flower. It is now a serious problem in many pastures.

Both Echium vulgare and Echium plantagineum contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can cause liver damage. There are no reports of human poisoning but horses and sheep are at risk and following bushfires in the Canberra area of Australia in 2003, forty horses were put down after eating too much Echium plantagineum. If you’re in the UK, don’t let this put you off growing Viper’s Bugloss. I bought my seeds from Emorsgate Seeds, though there is so much of the plant in some places that I’m sure it would be OK to collect some from the wild.

The bee to the right of the flower is Anthophora bimaculata, the Green-eyed or Little Flower Bee. In Norfolk it is found in the Brecks. When we visited in late June, males (with their characteristic green eyes and mosquito-like high pitched buzz) were patrolling the Viper’s Bugloss flower spikes, on the hunt for females.


Note: Although Brandon is in Suffolk, we stayed on the Norfolk side of the river throughout, and Brandon station is in Norfolk, so we didn’t need our passports.

Purple Crane’s-bill, Geranium x magnificum

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Geranium x magnificum

Purple Crane’s-bill, Geranium x magnificum, in our back garden.

June is one of the best months for Crane’s-bills (Geranium), such as Bloody Crane’s-bill, Geranium sanguineum, which I wrote about at the beginning of the year.

One of my favourites, for its mass of flowers and sheer intensity of colour, is Geranium x magnificum. My grandmother grew it in her garden on Anglesey and it was one of my Dad’s favourites, which I grew up with in our gardens in the West Midlands and Scotland. I still grow it here in Norwich, though the plants I have now came from my mother-in-law.

Purple Crane’s-bill is an apt name, for although the flowers are blue, they have a distinct purplish or red-blue hue.

Geranium x magnificum is a sterile hybrid, formed by a cross between two other Geraniums with blue flowers. The parents are Geranium platypetalum (Glandular Crane’s-bill, a native of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan) and Geranium ibericum (Caucasian Crane’s-bill, from Western Asia, including Turkey and the Caucasus). Both parents are grown in gardens and occur as garden escapes in the British Isles, Geranium platypetalum in parts of Dunbartonshire and G. ibericum in scattered sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Geranium x magnificum itself is more widespread as a garden escape, and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora describes it as a “long-persisting escape or throw-out on roadsides, railway banks and waste ground“. It was first recorded in the wild in 1932 in Middlesex.

My Geranium x magnificum isn’t a named variety (as far as I know) but several named cultivars exist, such as ‘Rosemoor‘ and ‘Blue Blood‘. Non-named varieties are also available online.

Geranium x magnificum is a hardy perennial (to below -20 Celsius), and forms clumps of deeply lobed hairy green leaves. It grows to about 70cm tall and I find it rarely needs support, unlike some other hardy perennials. It makes great ground cover and the leaves sometimes turn orange and red in autumn, though this might be dependant on growing conditions as this is not very noticeable in our garden.

Geranium x magnificum is an adaptable plant and will grow in sun or semi-shade in a variety of soil types – sand, clay, chalk or loam – and isn’t fussy about soil pH. It grows well in semi-shade on sandy loam in our current garden in Norwich, where rain is just an occasional fleeting visitor, and liked West Midlands clay, slightly acid soil in our Scottish garden and both high rainfall and a seaside location in my grandmother’s garden in Wales. It is easy to propagate by division, best done in autumn or spring. You can also divide plants just after flowering, provided you cut the foliage off and give the plants lots of water, though this is a bit brutal and the plants look rather dejected for a few weeks afterwards. The RHS website lists the plant’s foes as powdery mildew and viruses, vine weevil larvae, Geranium sawfly larvae, various capsid bugs and slugs and snails but I have never had problems with any of them. Indeed, in various snail-infested gardens I have found that all the species of Geranium I’ve grown have thrived and been immune to damage.

‘Magnificum’ is a very appropriate description, for this Geranium is indeed magnificent when in flower, and the flowers are popular with bumblebees. The only drawback is that the flowers come all at once and only last for two to three weeks in June and then are gone.

Other blue-flowered perennial cranesbills are available. I love our native Meadow Crane’s-bill, Geranium pratense, which is about to flower in our garden. It flowers for slightly longer than G. x magnificum and has a purer blue flower. It is susceptible to powdery and downy mildews in dry weather and is quite a leggy plant, so sometimes needs support. It also self-seeds, which is a good or bad thing, depending on your point of view. Bees love it and it is a great choice for a slightly wilder garden. There are numerous garden cultivars, with different coloured flowers and leaves. It likes similar conditions to G. x magnificum. It is quite easy to grow from seed.

For a tidier garden and a longer display of flowers, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (a.k.a. Geranium ‘Gerwat’) is hard to beat. It was first sold to the public in May 2000 and won the public vote at the Chelsea Plant of the Centenary Award. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is a lower, spreading plant than G. x magnificum, with white centres to its violet-blue flowers. It is a sterile hybrid between Geranium wallachium ‘Buxton’s Variety’ and Geranium himalayense, and was produced by Gomer and Rozanne Waterer, and introduced by Blooms of Bressingham [see note below]. Before I discovered Geranium ‘Rozanne’ I grew both parents in the Belvedere Centre garden in Norwich. They are lovely but flower for a relatively short time.

In contrast, Geranium ‘Rozanne’ flowers repeatedly from June through to October. It is very adaptable and hardy and likes similar conditions to G. x magnificum. It will die away in winter but when spring comes shoots will begin to appear and with its spreading habit, it makes very good ground cover. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is covered by Plant Breeders’ Rights, which mean you can’t propagate it for sale, but you can divide it up for your own use or give away plants to friends.

Geranium 'Rozanne'

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ in our back garden.

If I could grow just one blue flowered Geranium it would probably be ‘Rozanne’, but I’m very glad I have Geranium x magnificum and Geranium pratense in the garden too.

Note: This piece of information came from the RHS Encyclopedia of Perennials, which I recommend very highly. The story is also online on the Rozanne and Friends website, although that refers to Donald and Rozanne Waterer rather than Gomer and Rozanne.

King Alfred’s Cakes, Daldinia concentrica

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Daldinia concentrica

Daldinia concentrica, King Alfred’s Cakes or Cramp Balls

When we visited the Bluebell wood I mentioned in my last blog post, we found some fine examples of Cramp Ball fungi, Daldinia concentrica, also known as King Alfred’s Cakes.

Daldinia concentrica is a common and easily recognised fungus, found in Britain and Ireland and most of mainland Europe. The fungus also occurs in North America, Australia, New Zealand and many other temperate countries.

The specimens we found were growing on a fallen Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior). This is where I have usually seen the fungus, though a study from 1982 says that the fungus is often associated with Birches (Betula) in Scotland. There are at least five species of Daldinia in Northern Europe and three of these grow on burnt wood. These include Daldinia fissa, which has smaller fruitbodies, grows on burnt Gorse (Ulex) stems, and Daldinia loculata, found very rarely on burnt Birch wood.

Daldinia concentrica is an Ascomycete fungus, in the family Xylariaceae. The First Nature website has some good photos of the fungus, its asci and its spores. The family contains other fungi that look like they’ve been burnt, including the wonderfully named Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon), Dead Man’s Fingers (X. polymorpha) and Dead Moll’s Fingers (X. longipes).

Which brings me to the name ‘King Alfred’s Cakes’. This refers to one of the best known stories in English history. When King Alfred was on the run from the Vikings he is said to have taken refuge in the home of a peasant woman. She asked him to watch her cakes (actually small loaves of bread) baking by the fire but Alfred was so distracted by his problems he let the cakes burn and the angry woman scolded him. The fruitbody of Daldinia concentrica does look like a burnt cake, or perhaps a lump of charcoal. Another English name is Coal Fungus.

Daldinia concentrica is a saphrotroph, living on dead and decaying wood. It is capable of discharging its spores even in dry conditions. Ash trees often shed their branches and by growing on these fallen branches, Daldinia concentrica helps them to rot away.

The fungus fruitbody is very hard and described as “not edible”. You might break your teeth if you tried. But it has other uses. Another name is Cramp Ball because carrying one was thought to cure attacks of cramps. If your cramp doesn’t get better, you could always use the fungus to help light a fire. It needs to be dry and black to do this. In India the fungus is called kala pihiri, meaning “black fungus” and is sometimes used to treat chronic coughs.

If you look at Daldinia concentrica in section you will see that it grows in concentric rings. These are darker than the flesh, which is more purplish-brown than black on its inside. The rings look rather like the growth rings in trees and, like tree rings, are thought to represent seasonal growth. They give the fungus its specific name of concentrica. The name Daldinia was chosen by the mycologists Cesati and De Notaris to honour their friend, the Swiss Catholic monk Agosto Daldini (1817- 1895). 

Daldinia concentrica contains several unique compounds. These include daldinone A and a purple polycyclic pigment and a metabolite called concentricol, which is oxidized squalene.

A 2002 paper examines the chemical composition of Daldinia concentrica but you need to subscribe to the Journal of Natural Products if you want to read more than the abstract. Robert Rogers’ 2011 book “The Fungal Pharmacy: Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America” gives some more details of biologically active chemicals in Daldinia concentrica and their actions.

The larvae of the micro moth Harpella forficella feed on decaying wood, under bark of various deciduous trees and also on some fungi, including Daldinia concentrica. The moth was first seen in Britain in 2011, in Berkshire, and has since been seen in Sussex and Leicestershire. Although small, the moth is very pretty, and worth looking out for. The Scarce Fungus Weevil, Platyrhinus resinosus, also known as the Cramp Ball Weevil, also lives in Daldinia concentrica. We found one last summer under an Ash tree in a friend’s wood at Postwick, near Norwich.