BORAGINACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



14. SYMPHYTUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PL 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 S-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. 5. 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"-4" 

 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 Dorm. Rough 

 Comfrey. Fig. 3548. 



5. 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 S, 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. 



