Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare)
Flowers: June to September. Height: 75cm (30in).
Medicinal: Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1653) stated that the root or seed made into a syrup was “very effectual for the comforting of the heart and expelling sadness and melancholy”. It was recommended to be eaten after blood letting due to its high vitamin content. It was good for treating inflammations and made into a soothing poultice for treating boils and carbuncles. Herbalist William Coles’ The Art of Simpling (1656) described the plant as “its stalks all speckled like a snake or viper, and it is a most singular remedy against poisons and the sting of scorpions”.
Magic & Myth: Used to cure a wounded or broken heart.
