Erinus alpinus, the fairy foxglove,[1] alpine balsam,[2] starflower, or liver balsam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae (previously in the family Scrophulariaceae), native to Central and Southern Europe and also to Morocco and Algeria.

Erinus alpinus is a semi-evergreen, perennial chasmophyte with 10 cm (4 in) stems of narrow blue-green leaves and clusters of rose-pink flowers at the tips in spring and summer.

It is native to Central and Southern Europe,[3][4] and also to Morocco and Algeria.

[5] It is popularly grown in rockeries or alpine gardens; and occasionally becomes naturalised outside its native range, especially on old stone walls, shown from a well-known location for this species on the old Carrbridge Packhorse Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland [6] It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[7][8] Botanist and noted authority on plant-lore Albert Roy Vickery quotes an informant from the town of Hexham thus: Fairy foxglove is a small, purple flower which grows intermittently on stone walls in north-east England.