Family: Boraginaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Possibly naturalized in New Zealand
  
• Anecdotal reports of weediness reported from California, where it is claimed to crowd out other plants
  
• Other Echium species are invasive weeds
  
• Deer resistant and possibly unpalatable to browsing animals
  
• Anecdotally reported to be toxic or a skin irritant
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reproduces by seeds
  
• Self-compatible
  
• Seeds dispersed by gravity, possibly water and through intentional cultivation

Low Risk Traits:

• Grows at high elevations in the Canary Islands; may only have the potential to spread in similar high elevation habitats in tropical islands
  
• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Grows best in high light environments (dense shade may inhibit spread)
  
• Seeds lack any obvious means of dispersal by animals or wind