Bluely Cheerful. Echium vulgare, Viper's Bugloss, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Well, it's called Viper's Bugloss. 'Bugloss' is from the Greek for ox-tongue; it refers to the rough, spiny leaves of our plant; 'Viper' refers to the viperiform of the ripe seeds which resemble a snake's head. Following the theory of natural resemblance, it was believed that Echium vulgare could be used an an antidote to snakebites. Mioreover, for what reason I don't know, a syrup made from this plant was thought to drive away melancholy.
Notice the two-pronged pistil, which does look like a snake's forked tongue...
Henricus (father) and Abraham (son) Munting, seventeenth-century professors of botany of the university at Groningen, both list Echium vulgare among their plants. The elder Munting is clearly particular about its color, calling it Echium vulgare fl. coeruleo; 'sky-blue', in his description, Abraham leaves out the color although he does mention the red of other Echiums... Perhaps he just didn't like blue.
Bluely Cheerful. Echium vulgare, Viper's Bugloss, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Well, it's called Viper's Bugloss. 'Bugloss' is from the Greek for ox-tongue; it refers to the rough, spiny leaves of our plant; 'Viper' refers to the viperiform of the ripe seeds which resemble a snake's head. Following the theory of natural resemblance, it was believed that Echium vulgare could be used an an antidote to snakebites. Mioreover, for what reason I don't know, a syrup made from this plant was thought to drive away melancholy.
Notice the two-pronged pistil, which does look like a snake's forked tongue...
Henricus (father) and Abraham (son) Munting, seventeenth-century professors of botany of the university at Groningen, both list Echium vulgare among their plants. The elder Munting is clearly particular about its color, calling it Echium vulgare fl. coeruleo; 'sky-blue', in his description, Abraham leaves out the color although he does mention the red of other Echiums... Perhaps he just didn't like blue.