Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Viper's Bugloss
When I first identified this purple-blue wildflower, I wondered: Who was "Viper" and how did he lose his "bug?" (Just kidding!)
Along with Chicory, Early Yellowrocket, Foxtail Grass, Moth Mullein, and Perennial Sweet Pea, this tough, naturalized lily has made itself at home in some of the coarsest gravelly soils in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
It's electric-blue blossoms are a hard-to-miss adornment to the hard-pan shoulders of country roads in early summer. But beyond the appeal of its coloration, it also is a plant that I find of interest for the derivation of its common name.
The prefix, Viper's,
as well as that of the botanic name, Echium, refer to the plant's
seed pods, which were thought to resemble a snake's head.
The suffix, Bugloss—pronounced Bew + gloss, in case you are wondering—is botanic Greek for "ox tongue."
Look closely and you'll the see rough bristles on the leaves, stem, and flowers. These apparently are comparable to the texture of this animal's tongue.
This raises a question in at least one inquiring mind: How did they know an ox had a rough tongue?
There is another common name for this wildflower, Hounds Tongue, which I find a little easier to understand:
Affectionate hound, maybe; but ox?
But then I haven't spent a lot of time around oxen, affectionate or otherwise.
This flowering herb, an
immigrant from Europe, has the "bluest-blue" blossoms to be found in Shenandoah Valley wildflowers. Only
Virginia Bluebells comes
close, but its blossoms are a lighter, more pastel shade of blue.
It also known as Blueweed, which although certainly descriptive, doesn't trigger the imagination in the same way as the ancient name.
Brought to North America from Great Britain in colonial times as a medicinal herb, this moderately invasive perennial escaped from the herb garden to flourish throughout much of North America.
Go to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.