Common Comfrey it is, in the Boraginaceae. I saw this plant from the highway a couple years ago and there wasn't a good place to pull off. By the time I got turned around and back to the area it was pouring rain so I gave up, thinking I'd be back in a few days, but it was forgotten until last May. Strangely, its wetland rating is FACU and at this site it was thriving in a mucky lowland seep.
From a distance it looks like a giant Mertensia with flowers darker and only partially opened. It has leaf tissue decurrent along the stem, making it look strongly winged. It's a native of Europe, escaped from cultivation here and rather attractive. "Officinale" meaning "of the shops," a reference to some historic use in medicine, and hence its prevalence in apothecary shops.
Good call, Scott!
Showing posts with label Symphytum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Symphytum. Show all posts
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Easy Plant Quiz
This was growing in low, mucky ground in Hobart, Indiana. Photographed May 25, 2008. I'll have to admit I didn't know what it was at the time.
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