On 3 June 2021 it was reported that a giant viper’s-bugloss, Echium pininana, in Cornwall had reached 18ft.  This was claimed to be a record height for this species,  ‘the previous record being 16ft’.

This stimulated Scott Walker to send us a photograph of an Echium in his Dublin garden which has achieved 19ft 6ins, and which he believes might be a record for Ireland.

It is not known who, if anyone, ‘officially’ records the height of  giant viper’s-buglosses.

Addendum, May 2022: John Paton reports that he has an Echium which is 16ft 3ins tall and still growing in his garden in Bembridge, Isle of Wight.

Updated 20 May 2020.