Echium vulgare. N.O. Boraginaceae.
Synonym ► Blueweed, Viper’s Bugloss.
Habitat ► Rubbish heaps and waste land, particularly in chalky districts.
Features ► Many stems grow from root to a height of two feet, prickly and hairy. Root leaves stalked, stem leaves sessile, both narrow and tapering. Flowers, five-petalled, bright red, rapidly changing to deep blue, irregularly tubular, funnel-shaped, stamens reaching beyond mouth of flower, clustered on short curved spikes growing from side of stem.
Part used ► Herb.
Action ► Demulcent, expectorant, diaphoretic.
Two to four tablespoonful doses of the 1 ounce to 1 pint infusion are given for the reduction of feverish colds and in inflammatory conditions of the respiratory tract.
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