Echium vulcanorum

Echium vulcanorum
Echium vulcanorum on Chã das Caldeiras
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Asterids
Order:Boraginales
Family:Boraginaceae
Genus:Echium
Species: E. vulcanorum
Binomial name
Echium vulcanorum
A.Chev., 1935

Echium vulcanorum is a species of bugloss flowers that belong to the Boraginaceae family. The species are endemic in Cape Verde and is listed as endangered by the IUCN.[1][2] The species was described in July 1934 by Auguste Chevalier in his visit and was named in 1935[3] and named it after where it was founded, inside a caldera.

Together with Echium hypertropicum and Echium stenosiphon, its local name is lingua de vaca (cowtongue or cow-tongue) because of the texture of the leaves.[4] The plant are used for medicinal and dietary purposes for a cough syrup.[5]

The English language name is uncertain, its main forms are the Fogo bugloss or the Volcano bugloss.

Description

The plant is biennial, Its height is around 1.5 to 2 m, its stems are woody and stands upright, its leaves are lanceolate and is about 6 to 10  cm long and 1.5 to 2 cm wide. It is conical and has white flowers with blue stripes.[6][2]

Distribution and ecology

Echium vulcanorum are founded only in the area of Pico do Fogo at elevations over 1,700 m and mainly at Chã das Caldeiras and Pico da Caldeira and some parts east including Monte Losna/Pico Novo. These populations exist generally in places facing to the southwest or the southeast. It prefers soils with a recent volcanic origin.[2][7] The plant grows on volcanic slopes. It grows up to temperatures of 28°.

Echium vulcanorum were used for the production of firewood, for that, this and the other two Echium are listed as a threatened species.[6]

History

The plant were not killed during the 1995 eruption, during the 2014-15 eruption, some of these plants were killed, those at the foot of Pico da Caldeira were unaffected.

Other

One plant of the species are displayed at the right of the small yard at São Filipe Municipal Museum on the same island. Also one is at the Berlin Botanical Garden in Germany being one of the Capeverdean originated plants founded in the country.

References

  1. 1 2 "Echium vulcanorum". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 3.1. 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Romeiras, Maria M.; Ascensão, Lia; Duarte, Maria C.; Diniz, Maria A.; Pais, Maria S. (2008). "Taxonomy of Echium (Boraginaceae) species from Cape Verde Islands". Australian Systematic Botany. CSIRO. 21: 26–38.
  3. ↑ Chevalier, Auguste (1935). Les îles du Cap Vert : géographie, biogéographie, agriculture. Flore de l'archipel (PDF). Paris: Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, laboratoire d'agronomie coloniale: Tela Botanica. p. 992.
  4. ↑ Gomes et al 2003, p. 16
  5. ↑ Gomes, Alda Roque; Vasconcelos, Teresa; Almeida, Helena Guimarães de (31 October 2008). "Plantas na medicina tradicional de Cabo Verde" [Traditional Medicinal Plants in Cape Verde] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Plantas Medicinais e Fitoterapêuticas nos Trópicos, IICT/CCCM. p. 7.
  6. 1 2
  7. ↑ Romeiras, Maria M.; Cotrim, Helena C.; Duarte, Maria C.; Pais, Maria S. (2007). "Genetic diversity of three endangered species of Echium L. (Boraginaceae) endemic to Cape Verde Islands". Biodiversity and Conservation. Springer. 16: 547–566. doi:10.1007/s10531-006-6734-0.

Further reading

  • Isildo Gomes et al., Endemic plants and indigenous trees of the Cape Verde Islands, Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Fishery and the Projects Conservation and Exploration of the Natural Resources on the Island Fogo (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeitand) and Conservation of Biodiversity, 2003, p. 17
  • Maria M. Romeiras, Helena C. Cotrim, Maria C. Duarte et Maria S. Pais, Genetic diversity of three endangered species of Echium L. (Boraginaceae) endemic to Cape Verde Islands, in Biodiversity & Conservation, vol. 16, no. 2, p. 547-566
  • The endemic vascular plants of the Cape Verde Islands, W Africa, Sommerfeltia 24, 1997, C. Brochmann, Ø. H. Rustan, W. Lobin & N. Kilian, ISSN 0800-6865, ISBN 82-7420-033-0
  • Les îles du Cap Vert : géographie, biogéographie, agriculture. Flore de l'archipel (Cape Verde Islands: Geography, Biogeography, Agriculture, Flora of the Archipelago), Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, laboratoire d'agronomie coloniale, Paris 1935., available at TelaBotanica (in French)
  • "taxon". Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer (UBIO). Retrieved 28 May 2012.
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