Paterson's Curse - Identification
Note Number: LC0173
Published: October 2004
Updated: October 2007
This Landcare Note describes the weed Paterson’s curse, Echium plantagineum.
See the Landcare Note LC0383: Paterson’s curse management for information about the management of this weed.
Common and scientific names
Paterson’s curse, salvation Jane Echium plantagineum Linnaeus Family: Boraginaceae (borage and forget-me-not family)
Description
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Fig 1. Paterson’s curse infestation. |
An annual or occasionally biennial herb, growing as a rosette in autumn and winter, producing flowering stalks in spring and early summer, and reproducing by seed. The rosette usually grows flat to the ground but the leaves may be erect in dense vegetation.
Stems – stout, erect, commonly 30 to 60 cm tall but often taller (rarely to 2 m), light-green, densely covered with coarse bristles, branching mainly towards the top; often several stems emerging per plant; often single stemmed, particularly in dense infestations.
Leaves – green to light green, alternate, thick, densely covered with soft or bristly hairs. Basal (rosette) leaves up to 30 cm long, shortly stalked, elliptical to oval or paddle-shaped, conspicuously veined; dying off as stem growth increases. Stem leaves smaller, strongly hairy, stalkless,oblong to lance-shaped, heart-shaped at base, almost clasping the stem.
Flowers – in terminal clusters; funnel-shaped, usually purple but may be blue, pink or rarely white; a calyx of 5 bristly linear to lance-shaped sepals, 8-11 mm long, elongating to 15 mm in the fruit; petal tube 20 to 30 mm long; 5 stamens, 2 of which are longer than the other 3 and protrude from petal tube.
Fruit – 4 nutlets surrounded by the persistent, stiff, bristly
calyx.
Seeds – dark brown to grey, tough, angular, beaked, 3 mm long, 2 mm wide, three-sided, strongly wrinkled and pitted.
Roots – stout tap root with numerous laterals.
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Similar species
Distinguished from viper’s bugloss, Echium vulgare, by leaf and flower characteristics. In Paterson’s curse only 2 of the 5 stamens project beyond the flower tube and the rosette leaves are paddle-shaped with conspicuous lateral veins. In viper’s bugloss 4 of the 5 stamens project beyond the flower tube and the rosette leaves are linear and lack conspicuous lateral veins. Viper’s bugloss flowers are blue (not purple), and the petal tube is markedly shorter (12-15 mm) than that of Paterson’s curse (20-30 mm). Italian bugloss, Echium italicum, occurs in southern NSW and South Australia, near the Victorian border. It is similar to Viper’s bugloss but is more densely hairy and has pale yellow or cream flowers.
Origin
Native to regions around the western Mediterranean. Became naturalised in Australia between 1850 and 1900.
Flowering Period
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Distribution
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Lifecycle
Plants in all stages of growth can be found throughout the year, but most of the population follows an annual cycle with seeds germinating after the first autumn rains and rosettes increasing in size over winter. Plants begin to produce flowering stalks in late winter, commence flowering in early spring and die in summer. The first mature seeds are produced 4 to 6 weeks after flowering commences.
Habitat and land use
Occurs mainly in degraded pastures, on roadsides and in disturbed sites, in warm temperate areas with Mediterranean-type or semi-arid, winter rainfall climates. Does not grow well on alkaline or lime-rich soils.
Dispersal
Seed can be spread by vehicles and farm implements, water, animals (livestock, birds, ants), on clothing, and in hay, silage, wool, soil and commercial seed. Livestock can carry seed in their digestive tract or adhering to their coats directly or in the calyx.
References
Jeanes, J.A. (1999) Boraginaceae. Pp. 387-411 in N.G. Walsh & T.J. Entwisle (Eds.), Flora of Victoria Volume 4. Dicotyledons Cornaceae to Asteraceae. Melbourne, Inkata Press.
Parsons, W.T. and Cuthbertson, E.G. (2001) Noxious Weeds of Australia. 2nd Ed., Collingwood, Vic., CSIRO Publishing.
Acknowledgement
Prepared by Tom Morley and Ian Faithful, DPI Frankston, 2004. Map by John Weiss. Updated by Melanie Martin, DPI, August 2006. Updated by Greg Johnson, DPI, October 2007.
