Annual herb up to 40 cm long. Stem branched from the base, antrorsely hairy: hairs from a swollen base. Leaves antrorsely hairy, middle and upper leaves 10-30 x 4-6 mm, oblanceolate to lanceolate; basal leaves similar but larger, deciduous. Flowers in terminal racemes, subsessile. Pedicel up to 2.5 mm long, pubescent. Calyx hairy, lobes 5-6 mm long, linear. Corolla tubular to infundibuli-form, pale blue to white, antrorsely hairy to the outside; tube 3.8-4.5 mm long, sparsely hairy internally to about middle; limb 4 mm broad, lobes oblong-ovate. Anthers c. 1 mm long, narrowly oblong, prominently apiculate, subsessile, attached on lower half of tube. Nutlets 2.5 mm long, ± pear shaped, gray to brown, tuberculate, areola slender.

Fl. Per.: March-April.

Type: ‘Habitat in Europae agris et arvis’, Hb. Linn. 181.4 (LINN).

Distribution: S. Europe, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, eastward to Kashmir, Japan.

Often confused with the more common Buglossoides tenuiflora. Found up to 1400 m.