February 28, 2019

Narrow-leaved Lungwort


Leaves of Narrow-leaved Lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia) can be found nearly all year round. Look for them in woods, along a path, especially under Chestnuts or other trees that grow on acidic soil. The leaves are spotted, white on green, and with some ( a lot of!) phantasy you could say to look like the inside of a lung. Whence its name. By analogy, according to some, the plant could be used in medecine against lung diseases. Well, let us leave aside beliefs...





At this moment they make little leaf rosettes in which the flower buds are already visible. As with many spotted plants, every individual has its own pattern of spots, form, size and intensity specific for it. There are no twoi plants that look alike.





The plant her below still has a leaf from last year. In summer, Narrow-leaved Lungwort makes far bigger leaves, until 50 cm long. The old leaves disappear in winter. Except the one here, it seems.





Now, end of February, the first flowers are already open. And what flowers!






Nothing out of normal, this is a plant that flowers early, at the end of winter. The exceptionally warm and sunny weather of last weeks did not have that much effect on the flowering; the cold nights really slowed down growth.