62 VIPER S BUGLOSS. 



height, and the blossoms extend half way down 

 the stem. The colour of the fully-expanded 

 flowers is of a deep blue, but the young buds 

 are of a full rose colour, and occasionally the 

 blossoms are found, as at Cobham, in Kent, 

 of a pure white. The whole plant is very 

 rough to the touch. Its scientific and English 

 names are significant of the long-cherished 

 notion, that it was an effectual remedy for the 

 bite of a viper, — a notion derived from its 

 spotted stem, and its seed, which somewhat 

 resembles the head of that animal, and was 

 thus deemed to have some mysterious con- 

 nexion with it. 



Though our Viper's Bugloss is an herbaceous 

 plant, many of the species are much larger, 

 and several found at the Cape of Good Hope 

 are shrubs. The various kinds grow abundantly 

 throughout Europe, from the cold Siberia, 

 where they enliven the dreary lands, to the 

 warm latitudes of the south, where flowers are 

 bright and numerous. They are, however, 

 less frequent in the equinoctial parts of the 

 world. Some very handsome species are 

 commonly cultivated in om* gardens. 



