Massaroco (Echium candicans)

Highly branched, woody shrub, to 3 m tall; leaves usually lanceolate, 7-23 cm long and 1-4 cm wide, greyish-green and rather hairy or rough to the touch. Inflorescences dense, long and subcylindrical, with dark-blue or pinkish flowers. Locally common on outcrops in the evergreen forests and mountainous areas of central-east Madeira, from 800-1,700 m. Widely planted on roadside verges and in island gardens for its great potential as an ornamental, which is also true of many other Macaronesian species of the genus Echium.