Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis)
Flowers: February to April. Height: 40cm (16in).
Also called Jerusalem Cowslip and Bethlehem Sage, Pulmonaria was known in the Middle Ages as pulmo lupi – wolf’s lung.
Medicinal: For all chest conditions, Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1653) stated that the plant be used “to help the diseases of the lungs, and for coughs, wheezings, and shortness of breath, which it cures both in man and beast.” Also used to wash ulcers of “the privy parts”..
Culinary: For flavouring and in salads.
Doctrine of Signatures: Lungwort’s spotted leaves were thought to resemble the mottling of a diseased lung.
