Common noun: Viper ' s Bugloss.

Scientific noun: Echium vulgare.

Family: Boraginaceae.

Habitat:It grows wildly by the side of the roads and tracks,together with other plants that could be considered "humanized vegetation" (a kind of vegetation strictly related to the presence of organic garbage ) in meadows and dry places.

Characteristics: It is a herb between 40 and 80 cm tall.It can be specially distinguished because of its stems,covered with rough broad hooking bristles .It' s got long lanceolate leaves.Its flowers are purple at the beginning,but later they become blue or violate.They've got a tubular form,which widens at the border.It is very peculiar of this flower the presence of five stamens larger than the corolla (see the image).

Properties:

a)medicinal:

It's got depurative properties (Infusions: to relieve rheumatic pains.Gargles: for sorethroats),emollient properties (Plasters: for skin irritation)

b) cookery:leaves forming the basal rosette are eatable,provided that you eat them when tender (In Winter or at the beginning of Spring )

c) magical:the peculiar form of its flower groups,which reminds us the form of a coiled snake,(hence the origin of its name "viper" from Latin "vipera") made people think wrongly that it' s got the magical property of healing the bite of a viper.

Picking and storing:You have to pick it up before bloom or a bit after it, during the months of April and July.

More information about plants in the listing above.