BORAGE TRIBE 253 



the corolla ; filaments short ; seeds stony. Name from the Greek Uihof^, a 

 stone, and sperma, a seed, from its hai^d stone-like fruits. 



4. Smooth Gromwell {MerUnsia). — Calyx 5-cleft, half the length of the 

 corolla ; corolla funnel-shaped ; stamens protruded beyond the tube ; anthers 

 2-lobed at the base ; style becoming longer after flowering. Named from 

 F. C. Mertens, a German botanist. 



5. Scorpion Grass {Myosdtis). — Calyx 5-cleft ; corolla salver-shaped, its 

 lobes blunt, twisted when in bud, and its throat nearly closed by blunt 

 scales. Name from the Greek mys, a mouse, ous, otos, an ear, from the form 

 of the hairy leaves. 



6. Alkanet (Anchiisa). — Calyx deeply 5-cleft ; corolla funnel- or salver- 

 shaped, with a straight tube, its throat closed by prominent blunt scales. 

 Name from the Greek encheuo, to dye, from the use of the roots in dyeing, 



7. BuGLOSS (Lycopsis). — Calyx deeply 5-cleft ; corolla funnel-shaped, with 

 a bent tube, its throat closed by prominent blunt scales. Name from lukos, a 

 wolf, and opsis, a face, from a fancied resemblance in the flower to the face of 

 a wolf. Included by some authors, in Anchusa. 



8. COMFREY {Symphytum). — Calyx deeply 5-cleft ; corolla bell-shaped, 

 closed with 5 awl-shaped scales. Name from the Greek symphyo, to unite, 

 from its supposed healing qualities. 



9. Borage (Bardgo). — Calyx deeply 5-cleft; corolla wheel-shaped, its 

 throat closed with 5 short, erect, notched scales ; stamens forked. Name, a 

 corruption of corago, for cor, the heart, and ago, to bring, because it was sup- 

 posed to give courage. 



10. Mad WORT (Jsperugo). — Calyx 5-cleft, with alternate smaller teeth ; 

 corolla funnel-shaped with rounded scales in the throat. Name from the 

 Latin asper, rough, from the asperities of the leaves. 



11. Hound's Tongue {Cynoglossum).—Csi[yx 5-cleft; corolla funnel- 

 shaped, with a short tube, its mouth closed by prominent blunt scales ; nuts 

 flattened, prickly. Name from the Greek kyon, a dog, and glossa, a tongue, 

 from the form of the leaves. 



1. Viper's Bugloss {ischium). 



1. Common Viper's Bugloss {E. vulgdre). — Stem herbaceous, with- 

 out branches, rough with prickly bristles arising from tubercles; leaves 

 narrow, tapering, and bristly ; flowers in lateral spikes; stamens longer than, 

 the corolla ; root spindle-shaped ; biennial. All lovers of wild flowers hail 

 with delight the sprays of bells which stand on the speckled and rough stem 

 of the Viper's Bugloss in the months of June and July. Most stately, most 

 brilliant of wild flowers, it rises to the height of two or three feet, havino-, 

 when in a luxuriant condition, a spike of cymes more than a foot long. The 

 colour of these bells varies from the richest and most intense violet-purple 

 to a pale blue, or to bluish-pink, and now and then they are white, sometimes 

 pure as snow, but more often having just such faint tint of blue as serves to 

 remind us that the white flower is but a variety of the original blue blossom. 

 The richly-honeyed flowers are great favourites with many insects, and owino- 

 to the fact that the stamens mature before the style, these by carrying pollen 

 from older to younger flowers effect cross-fertilization. 



