Anchusa azurea Mill.
An erect, bristly-hairy perennial. Stems 20 to 150 cm tall, covered in stiff white hairs, much branched in the upper parts. Leaves thick, rough; the lower ones oblanceolate 10 to 30 cm long, the upper ones lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 4 to 10 cm long. Flowers in clusters, forming a large branching panicle. Corolla bright blue or blue-violet, 1 to 2 cm across, with a central white ring of scales with long hairs; corolla tube 6 to 9 mm long. Calyx divided almost to the base; lobes linear-lanceolate. Nutlets white or grey, about 6 mm long.
Local:Very rare in Gibraltar. Found as a weed in cultivated plots. Introduced on imported soil
Global: Found throughout the Mediterranean region and central and western Europe.
Flowers from (March) June, July to August.
Grows on fields, waysides and gardens.