Perennial of the Plantaginaceae family, native to central and southern Italy, naturalized in much of western Europe where it has established itself on walls, rockeries, slopes, and dry, sunny wastelands, at low and medium altitude.
It produces clumps of erect, thin, and rigid stems, 60 to 80 cm high, bearing narrow, linear, glaucous-blue foliage, arranged in whorls on the lower stems then alternate towards the top. The flowers, small and numerous, are lilac-pink to medium purple, with a fine and elongated spur clearly visible; they are arranged in long, dense, and slender spiciform clusters that give the plant its characteristic silhouette, both vertical and light.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from June to September. In cultivation, it can start as early as May and continue until the first frosts if the faded stems are removed.
Very accommodating, it thrives in full sun in any well-drained soil, even poor and calcareous, and tolerates drought well. It self-seeds freely and readily establishes itself in the joints of paving stones and at the foot of walls. The cultivar 'Canon Went', with pale pink almost salmon flowers, is particularly appreciated in gardens.