Echium plantagineum, commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss[1], Paterson's curse or Salvation Jane, is a species of the genus Echium native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), northern Africa, and southwestern Asia (east to Georgia).

Due to a high concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is poisonous to grazing livestock, especially those with simple digestive systems, such as horses.

[10][11] When eaten in large quantities, it causes reduced livestock weight, and death in severe cases, due to liver damage.

[7] Paterson's curse can also kill horses,[12] and irritate the udders of dairy cows and the skin of humans.

After the 2003 Canberra bushfires, a large bloom of the plant occurred on the burned land, and many horses became ill and died from grazing on it.