Flora of New Zealand Series

giant bugloss

Giant, monocarpic, hispid herb to c. 5 m high. Stem elongating before flowering and forming a trunk of 1-2 m below fls which becomes leafless and woody. Lvs at first in basal rosette, to 80 × 10 cm, ± oblong; base attenuate to short petiole; apex very long-acuminate; midrib prominently raised below. Panicle eventually 2-3 m high, with many densely arranged lateral branches each bearing a number of pedunculate, bracteate cymes. Calyx 4-6 mm long at anthesis, irregular with 4 lanceolate or lanceolate-ovate sepals and 1 larger, ovate, anterior sepal. Corolla 1.2-1.5 cm long, pink in bud, opening to light blue; upper lobes slightly larger. Stamens long-exserted, filiform, usually pink in upper part. Nutlets 2-3 mm long, prominently lobed and tuberculate towards base.

N.: N. Auckland (Kaikohe), Bay of Plenty (Waihi, Opotiki), Taranaki; S.: Canterbury (Port Hills, Caroline Bay, Timaru), Dunedin, Bluff; St.: Halfmoon Bay; Ch. (Te One).

Canary Is 1973

E. pininana seeds freely and plants can be expected elsewhere in the neighbourhood of gardens.

FL Oct-Dec.

Under optimum conditions E. pininana can complete its life cycle in about 18 months; the onset of the reproductive phase seems to be controlled by the number and size of rosette lvs present in the late winter. Formation and elongation of the trunk occurs over a period of 3 or 4 months in late winter and spring.

Another handsome monocarpic sp., E. wildpretii Hook. f., sometimes known as E. bourgeauanum, is cultivated in the South Id where it seeds freely but there are no reports of wild plants yet. This is the taginaste rojo of subalpine volcanic areas in the Canary Is; it has rosettes of long, linear, silvery lvs, a dense, sessile, pyramidal infl. to 2 m high, and rose fls.