"Viper's Bugloss is a genus of plants. The species are large herbaceous plants or shrubs, rough with tubercles and hairs. Their flowers are often very beautiful. the common viper's bugloss, a large annual plant, is a native of Great Britain and of most parts of Europe growing in dry places, not infrequently in cornfields. Its flowers are at first reddish, and afterward blue. It derives its name, viper's bugloss, from spots on its stem, which somehat resemble those of the viper, and the property of healing viper's bites was therefore ascribed to it. Other herbaceous species are found in North and South America, and other parts of the world. Shrubby species are found chiefly in the Canaries and South Africa."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Viper's Bugloss

"Viper's Bugloss is a genus of plants. The species are large herbaceous plants or shrubs, rough with…