Pulmonaria

(lungwort), a genus of plants of the family Boraginaceae. They are perennial pubescent herbs with creeping rhizomes and entire leaves. The flowers are five-parted and in an apical inflorescence (bostryx). The corolla has a funnelshaped tube and five tufts of hair on its throat. The fruit has four one-seeded nutlets. There are approximately ten species in the temperate zones of Eurasia. Five or six species grow in the USSR. Pulmonaria obscura is found in the European USSR, in broad-leaved and mixed forests and in thickets. It blossoms in the spring; at first the flowers are pink, subsequently turning violet, lilac, or blue. This species is frequently mistaken for lungwort (P. qfficinalis), which is native to Western Europe. P. mollissima, which has blue-violet flowers, grows in southern regions in sparse deciduous forests and steppe brush. The foliage of the Pulmonaria contains tannic substances and large amounts of mucilage, which is used in folk medicine as an expectorant and astringent. All species yield nectar. Some species are grown at times as ornamentals.