Bugloss

Information on Bugloss

Common Name: Bugloss
Scientific Name: Lycopsis arvensis
Irish Name: Boglas
Family Group: Boraginaceae.
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Bugloss is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


Growing on waste ground among all sorts of other vegetation, this plant draws one's attention to itself with its startlingly blue flowers (5-7mm across).  The corollas of these pretty flowers have five  petals and a white centre and they are borne in clusters, blooming from April to September.  Bugloss has lanceolate leaves which have wavy edges, the lower leaves being stalked, the upper clasping the stem.  Like the rest of the plant, the leaves are covered in stiff bristles. This rough, hairy annual, reaches up to 50cm, and is found on disturbed and sandy soil.  A native plant, it was formerly known as Anchusa arvensis and it belongs to the family Boraginaceae 

I found this wildflower growing near Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford in 2009 and photographed it at that time.  

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

The name Bugloss is thought to have derived from the Greek bous = head of cattle and glossa = tongue, perhaps because of the rough, hairy leaves.  

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