Bugloss flowers.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90GlNO2qnscX8pvQJxXfzr_r9brv3cq5DKv6DKWjTyPrrXI7JxM_MgfKK2uoJO5cy2UISw7aCekO7MuXMWm_9G7L8UMKRO-bGYC8b04Li3Zf3g9qXWr_uu0S9sJ7Kd_ibmyen_6AbOaKZ/s1600/Bugloss+flowers..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90GlNO2qnscX8pvQJxXfzr_r9brv3cq5DKv6DKWjTyPrrXI7JxM_MgfKK2uoJO5cy2UISw7aCekO7MuXMWm_9G7L8UMKRO-bGYC8b04Li3Zf3g9qXWr_uu0S9sJ7Kd_ibmyen_6AbOaKZ/s400/Bugloss+flowers..jpg" width="298" /></a></div><b> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><u>ommon Name</u>: Viper's Bugloss,  </b><span style="text-align: justify;">Blueweed, Blue-devil, Blue thistle, Blue Echium - The name Bugloss has survived several cultural translations: </span><i style="text-align: justify;">buglosse </i><span style="text-align: justify;">in French, </span><i style="text-align: justify;">buglossa</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> in Latin and</span><i style="text-align: justify;"> bouglossos</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> in Greek. Its original genesis is the two Greek words </span><i style="text-align: justify;">bous</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, which means the head of a cow and </span><i style="text-align: justify;">glossa</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, meaning tongue.  This refers to the hairy and spiny leaves that are "as coarse as a cow's tongue."  The distinguishing term "viper's" is added to distinguish this plant as the specific bugloss with fruits or nutlets that have the shape of  a viper's head.</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69i9mPORYM_K8JCPG284LglMgsYGMDMk63fdNHGDnDTOYSFIJBOl1p5RBYJQbv90PouM2wmHKiRVZ78DzKKmSjz_AdZc1Ws4se_r1cj-WRsM5c2sgeZ7OtG3CELZ5MM9hMZ_AvceEckbX/s1600/Bugloss+flowers.+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj69i9mPORYM_K8JCPG284LglMgsYGMDMk63fdNHGDnDTOYSFIJBOl1p5RBYJQbv90PouM2wmHKiRVZ78DzKKmSjz_AdZc1Ws4se_r1cj-WRsM5c2sgeZ7OtG3CELZ5MM9hMZ_AvceEckbX/s320/Bugloss+flowers.+(1).jpg" width="268" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b style="text-align: justify;"><u>Scientific Name</u>: <i>Echium vulgare</i></b><span style="text-align: justify;"> - The generic name is probably from the Greek word for  viper, </span><i style="text-align: justify;">echis</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. This would seem to be appropriately consistent with  the common name Viper's Bugloss; however, as it is the genus and not the species name, this etymology is suspect. Echion appears in Greek mythology as the name of one of the Spartan warriors who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus. Historically, Echion was a painter in the 4</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">th</sup><span style="text-align: justify;"> Century BCE. Alternatively, Echius was a Trojan warrior slain by Patroclus, the companion of Achilles according to the Iliad. </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Vulgare</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> is from the Latin </span><i style="text-align: justify;">vulgaris</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, meaning common, ordinary or usual.</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTC8LAsqpWFMkO9R0HI1ZwmQEd5gI0iQSLXnv8XGa4BY3_ZvEOHUv3ySSkHzMCBg4qFS4dTXADKCH4GJZfSXgU4NsVKURqhJnerEUvRvkGMgruajMdbJ5fmvxm8s6eNNRkQUyFE1_KVJp/s1600/Bugloss+flowers.+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTC8LAsqpWFMkO9R0HI1ZwmQEd5gI0iQSLXnv8XGa4BY3_ZvEOHUv3ySSkHzMCBg4qFS4dTXADKCH4GJZfSXgU4NsVKURqhJnerEUvRvkGMgruajMdbJ5fmvxm8s6eNNRkQUyFE1_KVJp/s320/Bugloss+flowers.+(2).jpg" width="312" /></a></div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Viper's bugloss was introduced to the North America from Europe in the 17</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">th</sup><span style="text-align: justify;"> Century; it has taken on the status of a noxious weed in some areas, notably the state of Washington. It is a native to most of Europe and western and central Asia; its distinguishing brilliant hues make it an easily identified and well-known species. The beauty of the florescence belies its pestilential association; it is ironic that the burned root was used for charcoal by artists. It goes by many names, most of which emphasize the brilliant blue:   </span><i style="text-align: justify;">lan ji</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, or  "blue luck" in China; </span><i style="text-align: justify;">gewöhnlicher natternkopf</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> or "common viper head" in Germany; </span><i style="text-align: justify;">himmelbrand </i><span style="text-align: justify;">or "sky-fire" and </span><i style="text-align: justify;"> stolzer</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> (proud) </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Heinrich</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> in Austria; and</span><i style="text-align: justify;">sinyak obryknovenny</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, or "common blue" in Russian (blue here is a colloquial word like the "black and blue" of a bruise). It is in all cases considered to be a very common blue flower.</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyJeVS4_PeEb21E_lM2URDFItmAuLif_9XaVgtQV2lxqTNV8sQgX7e0IQqZ2vp9xqq2gq6UJgPd24lO4ldam76e30YNii61pMQ-vPm54FPN3WpKYn6AXX6tmS2UopGe_NmLW_ughxptMT/s1600/Bugloss+flowers.+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyJeVS4_PeEb21E_lM2URDFItmAuLif_9XaVgtQV2lxqTNV8sQgX7e0IQqZ2vp9xqq2gq6UJgPd24lO4ldam76e30YNii61pMQ-vPm54FPN3WpKYn6AXX6tmS2UopGe_NmLW_ughxptMT/s320/Bugloss+flowers.+(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div align="justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Viper's Bugloss hath its stalks all to be speckled like a snake or a viper, and is a most singular remedy against poyson and the sting of scorpions" in his 1656 work "The Art of Simples" (medicinal herbs were called Simples, as the practice of using herbs medicinally was called Simpling). Any benefit that Viper's Bugloss might impart to a snakebite victim would be largely due to the placebo effect.</span></div><div align="justify" class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Viper's Bugloss was also used as a "simple" for the treatment of a variety of ailments more mundane than snakebite; there may be some credence to its efficacy in these applications. John Parkinson, the apothecary to King James I of England (aka King James VI of Scotland), wrote in his seminal "Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants, or, An Herbal of a Large Extent" that "the water distilled in glasses or the roote itself taken is good against the passions and tremblings of the heart as also against swoonings, sadness and melancholy."  The treatment consisted of drying the leaves taken from near the bottom of the plant and making a tea by placing an ounce of the resultant powder in a pint of boiling water. The effect was to promote the purging of  liquids in sweating, expectoration and diuresis.  The net result was a diminution of fever, headaches, and other "nervous complaints."  It fell into desuetude as a medicinal in part due to the decline of nature herbs in the pharmacopoeia and in part due to its potential toxicity.</span></div><div align="justify" class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Viper's Bugloss contains relatively small amounts of pyrrolizodine alkaloids that make the plant toxic to livestock and to humans.  These compounds are called hepatotoxic due to their deleterious effect on the liver. Instances of human illness due to these alkaloids  are rare and  have occurred primarily as a result of medicinal teas made from plants that have relatively high levels of the compound, like comfrey (<i>Symphytum officinale</i>). Symptoms include nausea, abdominal pain, fever, and jaundice as a biochemical indication of liver dysfunction; death can result in several weeks if consumption is sustained. Similar symptoms are manifest in range animals that consume the plant, sometimes inadvertently mixed in with other silage. Another manifestation of the toxicity is that the hairs of the stem impart contact dermatitis to humans.</span></div></div>

Bugloss flowers.

  C ommon Name : Viper's Bugloss,   Blueweed, Blue-devil, Blue thistle, Blue Echium - The name Bugloss has survived several cultural tra...

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