Plants perennial.
Stems erect, mostly simple, 15–150 cm.
Leaves 5–30 × 1.5–5 cm, margins entire; basal oblanceolate; cauline lanceolate to oblong.
Flowers calyces divided almost to base into linear acute lobes, 6–10 mm in flower, to 18 mm in fruit, lobes > 2 × as long as calyx tube; corollas violet to deep blue, tubes straight, 6–11 mm, lobes equal, 8–10 mm, limbs 10–20 mm in diameter; stamens inserted at top of tube.
Fruits erect, ± oblong.
2n=32.
Waste ground, disturbed areas. Flowering May–Aug. 0–900 m. BW, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, WA; scattered in North America; Europe. Exotic.
Anchusa azurea belongs to subgenus Buglossum and may be a separate genus. Anchusa azurea is a garden plant originally from Europe, western Asia, and eastern Maghreb. In temperate regions, it has escaped and become a widely distributed noxious weed.