viper's bugloss

vi·per's bugloss

V0111600 (vī′pərz) n. A biennial Eurasian plant (Echium vulgare) naturalized as a weed in eastern North America, having blue to purple flowers and hairy stems and foliage. Also called blueweed.

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[So called because its seeds resemble the heads of vipers and ancient herbalists recommended it for the treatment of snakebite (compare Greek ekhion, purple viper's bugloss (Echium plantagineum), from ekhis, viper).]

viper's bugloss

n (Plants) a Eurasian boraginaceous weed, Echium vulgare, having blue flowers and pink buds. Also called (US) blueweed See Paterson's curse See also echium

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

viper's bugloss - a coarse prickly European weed with spikes of blue flowers; naturalized in United Statesblue devil, blue thistle, blueweed, Echium vulgareherb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pestsEchium, genus Echium - a genus of bristly herbs and shrubs of the family Boraginaceae