132 GUERNSEY. 
Borago officinalis, L. Borage. 
Alien. First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Rare in the south: more frequent in the low districts. Some- 
times occurs in profusion in a field, the seeds having been sown 
with the crop. 
Parkinson declares that all parts of this plant are ‘very cordiale 
and helpe to expell pensivenesse and melancholie.’ In the opinion 
of Dr. Prior, the name Borage, Latin Boragy, French Bourrache, is 
‘probably a Latinized oriental name, brought with the plant from 
Syria.’ Bees are extremely fond of the flowers. 
Anchusa sempervirens, L. Green Alkanet. 
Alien. First found: Mrs. Marquand, 1899. 
Very rare. In May, 1899, a fine flowering specimen of this 
plant was brought me by my wife, who had gathered it in a hedge 
in the Hubit Lanes. I do not remember seeing it grown in cottage 
gardens in this island. 
Lycopsis arvensis, L. Small Bugloss. 
Colonist (?). First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Rather common in the sandy cultivated fields of the low-lying 
districts; less frequent in the interior; and almost unknown in the 
south. Often abundant in a locality. 
Symphytum officinale, L. Comfrey. 
Denizen. First record: Gosselin, 1815. 
Rare. Near St. Peter’s Arsenal. Les Padins (vi.). Lane 
between Hougue Fouque and Les Prevosts. Near Vale Castle. 
Hedge of a field behind the Forest Church. Miss B. Agnew has 
found the var. pazens, Sibth, in a lane near Les Vinaires (v1.). 
Comfrey was formerly regarded as a valuable styptic and 
vulnerary, and was known as the Great Consound, a name still 
preserved in Normandy, where the plant is called Grande Consoude. 
If gathered while tender, the leaves are a substitute for spinach, 
and the young shoots when blanched are sometimes eaten like 
asparagus. 
Echium vulgare, L. Vipers Bugloss. 
Native. First record: Gosselin, 181 oe 
Rare. About Lerée, sparingly. Coast near the Vale Church, a 
few scattered plants. Ville au Roi, one plant in a waste corner. 
Spur Point, one plant. Portinfer (Andrews). This species is much 
more common in Herm, and quite plentiful in Alderney. 
Called in French Vipévine ; the generic name is derived from the 
Greek echis, a viper. Lyte, in his Wwewe Herbal/, 1578, affirms that 
this plant ‘is very good against the bitings of serpents and vipers, 
and his seede is like the head of an adder or viper.’ 
