Echium orientale

About

Megacaryon orientale is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family (Boraginaceae). It is the sole species in genus Megacaryon. It is a biennial native to the Black Sea region of northern Turkey. First documented by European botanists in the early 1700s, this plant grows quite large for its family, producing enormous basal leaves that can reach over 60 centimetres in length and 30 centimetres in width. It grows in small clearings within humid beech and fir forests at elevations between 1050 and 1500 metres above sea level. Megacaryon orientale is known for its unusually large, glossy fruits—much bigger than those of its relatives—and its slightly asymmetrical flowers. The plant has had a complicated scientific history, being reclassified several times since its first formal description by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, with modern genetic studies confirming it deserves its own distinct genus.

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