It is a biennial or monocarpic perennial plant growing to 30–80 cm (12–31 in) tall, with rough, hairy, oblanceolate leaves.^[8] The stems, which are red-flecked, resemble snake's skin and even the fruits are shaped like adders' heads.^[9] The flowers start pink and turn vivid blue, and are 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) in a branched spike, with all the stamens protruding. The pollen is blue^[10] but the filaments of the stamens remain red, contrasting against the blue flowers. It flowers between May and September in the Northern Hemisphere. The Latin specific epithet vulgare means common.^[5]

It is native to Europe and temperate Asia. It has been introduced to Chile,^[11] New Zealand^[12] and North America, where it is naturalised in parts of the continent including northern Michigan,^[3] being listed as an invasive species in Washington.^[13] It is found in dry, calcareous grassland and heaths, bare and waste places, along railways and roadsides and on coastal cliffs, sand dunes and shingle.^[14]

E. vulgare is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and numerous cultivars have been developed. The cultivar 'Blue Bedder' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[15][16]

• 
  Being pollinated by skipper butterflies
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  Illustration
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  Closeup of flower
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  Colonizing the banks of a Montreal city highway
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  White-tailed bumblebee
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  Extensive occurrence near Waldems-Wüstems in the Taunus

• Monofloral honey
• North American nectar sources