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Echium italicum; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-07-10

Echium italicum L.

Pale bugloss; Italian-bugloss; Italian viper's bugloss; Lady Campbell-weed

Boraginaceae · Austria, Czechoslovakia +32

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Echium italicum, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedEchium italicum, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedEchium italicum, photograph (c) vever29, some rights reserved (CC BY)Echium italicum, photograph (c) vever29, some rights reserved (CC BY)Echium italicum, photograph (c) vever29, some rights reserved (CC BY)Echium italicum, photograph (c) Leonardo Rapisarda, some rights reserved (CC BY) 75 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-2.9°C
Record low -11.8 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
27°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
731mm
11 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
10–45DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes September to February and April, read as a winter growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Echium italicum, the Italian viper's bugloss, Lady Campbell weed, or pale bugloss, is a species of plant from the family Boraginaceae, found in the Mediterranean Basin (especially in Italy, hence the name 'italicum') and, as an introduced species in the United States (for example in the state of Maryland).

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Echium italicum", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Echium

Echium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that contains about 70 species and several subspecies.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Echium", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (518 mm of 731 mm) falls in September to February and April, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 10.9 °C against a yearly mean of 14.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: March to August and October.

Rain

731 mm in the median year at the habitat, 518 mm of it September to February and April. Wettest month November at 92 mm, driest month July at 24 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 472 mm to 1,177 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 731 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 731 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 10 to 45 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 7, the highest 90th-percentile month 49).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -2.9 °C, the absolute minimum -11.8 °C, 810 frost nights in 44 years, 18.4 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 38.9 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 1.8 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -3.9 °C to 7.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.4 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -2.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -170 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Echium italicum through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 27 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 1.8 °C; 731 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost38.9° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-11.8° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 10–45RH 55–62%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 1298 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C9 / 3–1210 / 4–1313 / 8–1516 / 13–1820 / 18–2324 / 22–2727 / 24–3127 / 25–3023 / 21–2619 / 15–2213 / 9–1710 / 5–13
Night °C2 / -4–82 / -4–84 / -1–97 / 4–1112 / 8–1516 / 12–1918 / 14–2219 / 15–2215 / 11–2011 / 7–166 / 2–123 / -2–9
Rain mm67 / 36–12858 / 34–11257 / 35–9963 / 36–10056 / 27–8941 / 11–7724 / 5–5835 / 7–6664 / 19–10685 / 40–13792 / 47–16589 / 46–163
DLI12 / 9–1618 / 15–2227 / 23–3134 / 31–3840 / 36–4444 / 40–4945 / 40–4939 / 35–4430 / 26–3520 / 17–2513 / 10–1710 / 7–14
RH %62 / 58–6660 / 57–6459 / 56–6258 / 55–6158 / 53–6156 / 51–6155 / 49–5955 / 50–6058 / 53–6161 / 57–6362 / 59–6562 / 59–67
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 1298 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (1605 records in those cells; 25 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 966:3613 (41.675, 0.675). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -11.8 °C, 1st-percentile night -2.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 38.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1298 distinct grid cells holding 1605 of the 1633 in-range records (25 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 966:3613 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 41.50_0.625, lapse-corrected -170 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 184 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeAustria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Baleares, Corse, France, Sardegna, Spain, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Sicilia, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia, Krym, Central European Russia, Ukraine, Libya, Kazakhstan, Kirgizistan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Turkey · introduced: Germany, Maryland · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker42.737, 11.688 · in the densest population, 629 records (34% of those in range)
Kew's description“biennial” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1841 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 1605 of them in the land cells it reads, of 1633 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1059 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 529 km away. 20 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 208 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1841 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Echium italicum, photograph 1did not loadEchium italicum, photograph 2did not loadEchium italicum, photograph 3did not loadEchium italicum, photograph 4did not loadEchium italicum, photograph 5did not loadEchium italicum, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (2); (c) vever29, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Leonardo Rapisarda, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Quercus trojana Quercus trojana Macedonian Oak Photo: CC BY, Milan ChytrýPaliurus spina-christi Paliurus spina-christi Christ's thorn Photo: CC BY, Umut Nuri ErdoğanDasypyrum villosum Dasypyrum villosum Poaceae Photo: CC BY, Sandra StewartCrataegus azarolus Crataegus azarolus Azarole Photo: CC BY, Louis AuregliaMalva sylvestris Malva sylvestris Common mallow Photo: CC BY-SA, Marina NiotiAsphodeline lutea Asphodeline lutea Yellow asphodel Photo: CC BY, Mehdi Chetibi

Other Echium 32 in the reference

Echium acanthocarpum Echium acanthocarpum Blue bugloss Photo: CC BY, Ismael Medina RodríguezEchium aculeatum Echium aculeatum Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, Vítor JorgeEchium amoenum Echium amoenum Boraginaceae Photo: Public domain, خودم(Ram!n)Echium angustifolium Echium angustifolium Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, natomikEchium auberianum Echium auberianum Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, Lídia CarreraEchium boissieri Echium boissieri Boraginaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedEchium brevirame Echium brevirame Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, Juan RodríguezEchium callithyrsum Echium callithyrsum Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, fmunozEchium candicans Echium candicans Pride of Madeira Photo: CC BY, Thomas KoffelEchium creticum Echium creticum Cretan viper's bugloss Photo: CC BY, Julia MoningEchium decaisnei Echium decaisnei Boraginaceae Photo: CC BY, Christoph MoningEchium giganteum Echium giganteum Boraginaceae Photo: CC0, author not stated all 33 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Echium asperrimum; Echium pollentinum. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Boraginaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary +31
Wild records
1841 in range · 1059 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 15 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (9 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 6 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 41.50_0.625, lapse-corrected -170 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 101 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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