BORAGE FAMILY 



337 



slender plant with leaves green above, not downy, with few spread- 

 ing hairs, and reddish -flowers, changing to blue. — Shady places in 

 the midland and eastern counties; rare. — Fl. May, July. 

 Biennial. 



*2. Asperugo (Mad wort), represented by one species, A. pro- 

 cumbens, with prostrate, angular stems thickly set with rigid, 

 curved bristles, a few, small, blue flowers, solitary in the axils of 

 the upper leaves, occurs rarely in waste ground, but is not 



Symphytum OFFiciNALlt (Common Comfrey). 



indigenous. (Name from the Latin asper, rough.) — Fl. May — 

 July. Annual. 



3. Symphytum (Comfrey).— Coarse, rough plants with enlarged 

 roots ; cauline leaves often decurrent ; flowers in terminal cymes ; 

 corolla bell-shaped, dilated above the middle, with 5 short lobes, 

 and the throat closed with 5 awl-shaped, fringed scales ; stamens 

 included ; nutlets smooth. (Name from the Greek stimphuo, I 

 unite, from its supposed healing qualities.) 



1. S. officinale (Common Comfrey). — A large and handsome 



