Bugloss - Lycopsis arvensis

Bristly plant up to 40cm tall but often less. Upper leaves unstalked and half clasping the stem. Flowers bright blue 4 to 6 mm, the tube curved in the middle, borne in forked cymes.

Anchusa officinalis - but this has not been recorded in VC55

Very bristly, leaves undulate and crenate, corolla lobes slightly unequal and 4-6mm across

Photograph of whole plant.  The County Recorder has asked for a specimen of this plant to be retained for verification

Arable land, sandy heaths, waste and bare places.

April to September.

Annual.

Patchy distribution nationally and probably declining, more common in the south and east, much less common in western Scotland and Wales.

Declining and may now be scarce in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 39 of the 617 tetrads.