335 
BORAGINACEJE. (BORAGE FAMILY.) 
1. ECHIUM, Tourn. Viper’s Bugloss. 
Corolla with a cylindraceous or funnel-form tube, and a more or 
less unequal spreading 5-lobed border, the lobes rounded, the ex¬ 
panded throat naked. Stamens mostly exserted, unequal. Style 
thread-form. Nutlets roughened or wrinkled, fixed by a small 
not perforate base. (A name of Dioscorides, from fys, a viper.) 
1. E. vulgare, L. (Blue-weed.) Rough-bristly; stem erect 
(2° high), mostly simple ; stem-leaves linear-lanceolate, sessile; flow¬ 
ers in short lateral spikes, at first spreading, then erect, disposed in a 
long and narrow raceme; corolla reddish-purple changing to violet- 
blue (rarely pale), the tube shorter than the calyx. @ — Road-sides 
and meadows, introduced, rare in the Northern States, a troublesome 
weed in Virginia. June. — Flowers showy. 
2. LYCOPSIS, L. Bugloss. 
Corolla funnel-shaped, with a curved tube; the throat closed 
with 5 convex obtuse bristly scales placed opposite the lobes. 
Stamens and style included. Nutlets rough-wrinkled, concave 
(perforate) at the base. — Annuals. (Name from \vkos, a wolf , 
and o\fnr, appearance , it is not clear for what reason.) 
1. E* arvensfs, L. (Small Bugloss.) Very rough-bristly 
(1' high); leaves lanceolate,;obscurely toothed, the upper partly clasp¬ 
ing ; flowers in leafy racemes; calyx as long as the tube of the small 
blue corolla. — Dry or sandy fields, sparingly naturalized in N. Eng¬ 
land and New York. June, July. 
3. SYMPHYTUM, Tourn. Comfrey. 
Corolla oblong-tubular, inflated above, 5- toothed, the short 
teeth spreading ; the throat closed with 5 converging linear-awl- 
shaped scales. Stamens included: anthers elongated. Style 
thread-form. Nutlets smooth, ovate, fixed by a large excavated 
(perforate) base. —Coarse perennial herbs, with thickened muci¬ 
laginous roots, and one-sided nodding racemes, either single or in 
pairs. (Name from o-upfalv, to grow together , probably in allu¬ 
sion to its reputed healing virtues.) 
1- S. Officinale, L. (Common Comfrey.) Hairy, branched 
and winged above by the decurrent leaves; the lower ones ovate- 
lanceolate, tapering into a petiole, the upper narrower; corolla yel¬ 
lowish-white, rarely purplish. — Moist places, escaped from gardens, 
sparingly naturalized. June. 
