any plant of the 50 or so mostly Mediterranean species of the genus Anchusa and the closely related Pentaglottis sempervirens, bearing blue, purple, or white forget-me-not–like flower clusters on hairy, herbaceous stems. They belong to the family Boraginaceae. True alkanet (A. officinalis) bears purple flowers in coiled sprays, on narrow-leaved plants, 60 cm (2 feet) tall. Large blue alkanet (A. azurea), popular as a garden species, reaches 120 cm (4 feet) and has large, bright-blue flowers with a tuft of white hairs in the throats, and narrow leaves. Oval, pointed evergreen leaves and white-eyed blue flowers characterize the evergreen alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens), which reaches 100 cm (3 ¹/₃ feet). All three species grow in fields and roadside waste spaces. True alkanet has become naturalized in some areas of eastern North America.