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Boraginaceae FAMILY

Onosma echioides

Onosma echioides

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

The bristly stems and leaves can cause a good deal of irritation to the skin[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Onosma echioides is fairly cold hardy, tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c[2]. Requires a sunny position in a well-drained soil[3, 2]. Prefers a deep rather rich sandy loam[3]. Tolerates hot dry conditions and also drought once it is established, but dislikes moist climates at any time of the year[4, 5]. Species in this genus tend to grow well in crevices in a rock garden or on a wall[3, 2]. There is some confusion over this species. It is given as a part of Onosma frutescens in some reports but [5] gives it specific status. A very ornamental plant[3].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a greenhouse in early spring. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out in early summer. Cuttings in a frame in the summer. Shade them for the first 10 - 12 days[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Onosma+echioides>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Gardening on Walls — Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. · Collins · 1983 · ISBN 0-00-219220-0 ↩︎A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
  2. [2]Perennials. Volumes 1 and 2. — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1991 · ISBN 0-330-30936-9 ↩︎Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]The Dry Garden. — Chatto. B. · Dent · 1982 · ISBN 0460045512 ↩︎A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · 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.
  6. [6]Flowers of the Mediterranean. — Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. · Hogarth Press · 1987 · ISBN 0-7012-0784-1 ↩︎A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.
  7. [7]Onosma L.: A review of phytochemistry and ethnopharmacology — Kumar N,. Kumar R. & Kishore K. · 2013 · http://10.4103/0973-7847.120513 ↩︎
  8. [8]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎