Boraginaceae - borage family

Gerald A. Mulligan (1928 - 2022)
Research Scientist and Research Institute Director (retired).
Honorary Research Associate (1987 - 2022), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada

Awarded the George Lawson Medal by the Canadian Botanical Association in 2006.
Awarded the Faculty of Macdonald, McGill University, Most Distinguished Alumni Award on October 18, 2014.
Read his biography "The Real Weed Man" available in print and ebook.

Echium vulgare L.,blueweed, vipérine commune
Biennial, forming a flat-lying rosette in the first year, spreading by seeds; autogamous; 1 to 3 feet (3 to 9 dm.) high; bright blue flowers; abundant in the inland-east, rare elsewhere; rocky permanent pastures, abandoned fields, meadows, and roadsides; introduced from Europe. Bristly hairs on leaves and stems can produce a severe skin inflammation.

Hackelia virginiana (L.) I. M. Johnston ( =Lappula virginiana (L.) Greene), stickseed (beggar’s lice), hackélia de Virginie
Biennial, forming a rosette in the first year and a stem 1 to 4 feet (3 to 12 dm.) high in the second year. Flowers small, white, and 5-lobed. A native of eastern North America, occurring from southern New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, to Georgia and Louisiana. In open woods, thickets, and waste land. Brushing past stickseed usually results in large sections of its inflorescence clinging tenaciously to clothing and to the fur of animals.

Lappula squarrosa (Retz.) Dumort. [ =Lappula echinata of some authors], bluebur, bardanette épineuse
Annual or winter annual, spreading by seeds; stems rarely over 2 feet (6 dm.) high; flowers blue; widespread in grain fields, pastures, railway grades, roadsides, and waste places; introduced from Europe. The sticky seeds cling to clothing and animal hair.

Click on a photo to view an enlarged image.
Weed Name Photo Weed Name Photo
blueweed, vipérine commune
(plant)
blueweed, vipérine commune
(closeup)
blueweed, vipérine commune
(maturing inflorescence)
blueweed, vipérine commune
(seedling, FF)
blueweed, vipérine commune (NC) stickseed, hackélia de Virginie
(plant)
stickseed, hackélia de Virginie
(fruiting inflorescence)
stickseed, hackélia de Virginie
(section of fruiting inflorescence)
bluebur, bardanette épineuse (F&M) bluebur, bardanette épineuse (close up)
bluebur, bardanette épineuse (NC) bluebur, bardanette épineuse
bluebur, bardanette épineuse
(plant, FF)
bluebur, bardanette épineuse
(seedling, FF)
bluebur, bardanette épineuse
(seedling)
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