tower of jewels

species: Echium wildpretii

common name: tower of jewels

family: Boraginaceae

where & when encountered: Soledad & Gonzales, CA - 2012

While working in the Salinas Valley one day a homeowner asked if I recognized the strange plant growing in his yard, a plant he had no idea of how it got there. I later learned it is called tower of jewels, a real curiosity hailing from Madeira and the Canary Islands. It does well in California's Mediterranean climate and so is grown ornamentally. As to how it got in that man's yard, the answer is birds. The red flowers attract bees, butterflies and birds, the latter of which spread the seeds haphazardly.