BORAGINACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



14. SYMPHYTUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 136. 1753. 



Erect coarse hairy perennial branching herbs, with thick mucilaginous roots, alternate 

 entire leaves, those of the stem mostly clasping, the uppermost tending to be opposite, the 

 lower long-petioled. Flowers yellow, blue, or purple, in terminal simple or forked scorpioid 

 racemes. Calyx deeply 5-cleft. Corolla tubular, slightly dilated above, 5-toothed or 5-lobed, 

 the lobes short, the throat with 5 crests below the lobes. Stamens 5, included, inserted on 

 the corolla-tube; filaments slender. Ovary 4-divided; style filiform. Nutlets 4, obliquely 

 ovoid, slightly incurved, wrinkled, inserted by their bases on the flat receptacle, the scar of 

 the attachment broad, concave, dentate. [Greek, grow-together, from its supposed healing 

 virtues.] 



About 15 species, natives of the Old World. Type species: Symphytum officinale L. 

 Leaf-bases decurrent. i . S. officinale. 



Leaf-bases not decurrent, or but slightly decurrent. 2. S. asperrimum. 



i. Symphytum officinale L. 



Comfrey. Healing-herb. Fig. 3547. 



Symphytum officinale L. Sp. PI. 136. 1753. 



Roots thick, deep; stem erect, branched, 2-3 

 high. Leaves lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or the 

 lower ovate, pinnately veined, 3'-io' long, acute 

 or acuminate at the apex, narrowed into mar- 

 gined petioles, or the uppermost smaller and 

 sessile, decurrent on the stem; petioles of the 

 basal leaves sometimes 12' long ; flowers numer- 

 ous, in dense racemes or clusters ; pedicels 2"-^" 

 long; calyx-segments ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate, much shorter than the co- 

 rolla; corolla yellowish or purplish, 6"-io" long; 

 nutlets brown, shining, slightly wrinkled, 2" 

 high. 



In waste places, Newfoundland to Minnesota, 

 south to Virginia and North Carolina. Naturalized 

 or adventive from Europe. Native also of Asia. 

 June Aug. Back- or black-wort. Bruisewort. Knit- 

 back. Boneset. Consound. Gum-plant. 



Symphytum tuberosum L., with thickened tuber- 

 pus roots, the nutlets granular-tuberculate, not shin- 

 ing, has been found in sandy meadows in Con- 

 necticut. 



2. Symphytum asperimum Donn. Rough 

 Comfrey. Fig. 3548. 



S. asperrimum Donn ; Sims, Bot. Mag. 24 : pi. 929. 



1806. 



Similar to S. officinale, but the pubescence 

 rougher, the hairs stiff and reflexed. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, long-acuminate at 

 the apex, narrowed at the base, all but the upper- 

 most petioled, slightly or not at all decurrent, the 

 lower often 8' long; flower-clusters rather loose; 

 calyx about half as long as the corolla-tube, its 

 segments hispid ; corolla bluish-purple. 



Waste grounds, Massachusetts to Maryland. Ad- 

 ventive or naturalized from Europe. June-Aug. 



15. BORAGO [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 137. 1753. 



Hirsute or hispid annual or biennial branching herbs, with alternate entire leaves, and 

 showy blue flowers, in terminal loose leafy racemes. Calyx deeply 5-cleft or 5-parted. 

 Corolla rotate, the tube very short, the throat closed by scales, the limb 5-lobed, the lobes 

 imbricated, acute. Stamens 5, inserted on the corolla-tube ; filaments dilated below, narrowed 

 above into a slender appendage ; anthers linear, erect, and connivent into a cone. Ovary 

 4-divided; style filiform. Nutlets 4, ovoid, erect, attached by their bases to the flat receptacle, 

 the scar of attachment large, concave. [Middle Latin, burra, rough hair, alluding to the 

 foliage.] 



Three species, natives of the Mediterranean region, the following typical. 



