Family: Boraginaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Widely naturalized
  
• Can become aggressive and weedy in garden settings
  
• Contains small amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can cause liver damage and liver cancer
  
• Tolerates many soil conditions (and potentially able to exploit many different habitat types)
  
• Self-compatible
  
• Reaches maturity in under 1 year
  
• Spread intentionally by people and by ants, or adhering to animals
  
• Seeds may persist in the soil

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Palatable to cattle and goats
  
• Consumed by people
  
• Does not spread vegetatively
  
• Seeds not dispersed very far by natural means
  
• May be effectively controlled with herbicides