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

Species of Echium are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia, and the Macaronesian islands where the genus reaches its maximum diversity. Twenty-nine species of Echium are endemic to the Canary, Madeira, and Cape Verde archipelagos. The continental species are herbaceous, whereas many of the endemic species of the Macaronesian islands are woody perennial shrubs.

Etymology: The Latin genus name Echium comes from the Greek echion, referring to Echium plantagineum and itself deriving from echis (viper); the Greek term dates to Dioscorides, who noted a resemblance between the shape of the nutlets and a viper´s head. The genus Echium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Cultivation and uses: Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world. In Crete, Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.

Echium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onosmella and orange swift.

In some countries Echium extract has been used as cure for various diseases and is believed to have beneficial properties.

Echium seed oil: The seed oil from E. plantagineum contains high levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid, and stearidonic acid, making it valuable in cosmetic and skin-care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils. However, despite its high ALA content, Echium seed oil does not increase docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid levels.

Invasiveness: Some species have been widely naturalized in Mediterranean climates, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America and the United States. For example, Echium plantagineum has become a major invasive species in Australia.

Species: 68 species are accepted.

• Echium acanthocarpum
• Echium aculeatum
• Echium albicans
• Echium amoenum
• Echium anchusoides
• Echium angustifolium
• Echium arenarium
• Echium asperrimum
• Echium auberianum
• Echium × bailaderense
• Echium bethencourtii
• Echium boissieri
• Echium × bond-spraguei
• Echium bonnetii
• Echium brevirame
• Echium callithyrsum
• Echium candicans
• Echium canum
• Echium clandestinum
• Echium creticum
• Echium decaisnei
• Echium flavum
• Echium gaditanum
• Echium giganteum
• Echium glomeratum
• Echium handiense
• Echium hierrense
• Echium horridum
• Echium humile
• Echium hypertropicum
• Echium italicum
• Echium judaeum
• Echium khuzistanicum
• Echium × lemsii
• Echium leucophaeum
• Echium × lidii
• Echium longifolium
• Echium lusitanicum
• Echium modestum
• Echium montenielluense
• Echium nervosum
• Echium onosmifolium
• Echium pabotii
• Echium parviflorum
• Echium perezii
• Echium petiolatum
• Echium pininana
• Echium pitardii
• Echium plantagineum
• Echium portosanctense
• Echium rauwolfii
• Echium rosulatum
• Echium rubrum
• Echium sabulicola
• Echium salmanticum
• Echium simplex
• Echium spurium
• Echium stenosiphon
• Echium strictum
• Echium suffruticosum
• Echium sventenii
• Echium x taibiquense
• Echium tenue
• Echium thyrsiflorum
• Echium triste
• Echium trygorrhizum
• Echium tuberculatum
• Echium velutinum
• Echium virescens
• Echium vulcanorum
• Echium vulgare
• Echium webbii
• Echium wildpretii

Formerly placed here: 

• Megacaryon orientale (as Echium orientale )
• Pontechium maculatum (as Echium maculatum )