Besides being invasive, it is poisonous to livestock, particularly ones with a simple digestive system like horses. I suspect it was grown originally as a bee plant as it produces copious nectar, but unfortunately the honey is also toxic, and needs to be diluted with non-echium honey. Diane On 15-Jun-11, at 4:34 PM, Mary Sue Ittner wrote: > The small echium that Diane mentioned I have seen naturalized in > Australia and I think New Zealand, South Africa, and California. The > ones I have seen were short,