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Anchusa officinalis

Common name:	Alkanet	Family:	Boraginaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe to W. Asia. An introduced casual in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Roadsides, pastures and waste ground, preferring warmer areas[9, 13].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. angustifolia[G] A. procera[B,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Alkanet [L,H], Buglos [E], Bugloss [H], Common Alkanet [H], Common Bugloss [L,B,P], Gewone Ossentong [D], Lingua Bovina [E], Sigiidili [E], True Bugloss [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	officinalis = sold as an herb
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Borage family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Germany Italy Turkey
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Washington.

Physical Characteristics

Biennial/Perennial growing to 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to October, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Colouring Flowers Leaves.

Leaves and young shoots - cooked[9, 115, 166]. Used like spinach[2, 183].
Flowers - cooked or used as a garnish[183].
The red dye obtained from the roots can be used to colour oils and fats[105].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Demulcent Expectorant Homeopathy.

All parts of the plant are demulcent and expectorant[9]. They are used externally to treat cuts, bruises and phlebitis and internally to treat coughs and bronchial catarrh[9].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the plant[9]. It is used in the treatment of stomach and duodenal ulcers[9].

Other Uses

Dye.

A red dye is obtained from the roots[13].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils, preferring a sunny position[1]. Prefers a fertile well-drained soil[111].
The flowers are a rich source of nectar and are very attractive to bees[1].
The dry leaves emit a rich musky fragrance, rather like wild strawberry leaves drying.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in pots of sandy soil[200]. An overnight drop in temperature helps germination[133]. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 4 weeks at 21° c[133]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
The seed can also be sown in an outdoor seed bed during July, transplanting the plants to their final positions during early autumn[245]. These plants will grow larger and flower earlier than those sown in spring.

Scent

Leaves: Dried: The dry leaves emit a rich musky fragrance, rather like wild strawberry leaves drying.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for anchusa officinalis (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Boraginaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[133] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan. 1987
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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