Lungwort

These purple to pink flowers grow in a small umbel on thick, hairy stems. (The ones in our photos were about 10 cm high.) These grow mainly in the Alpes, and are rare.

The "Pulmonaria" derives from the name for "lungs", hence the English common name Lungwort. The elderly, and very knowledgeable man who identified this flower for us, in the forests near the Lac d'Allos, said the locals called it the equivalent of "the lung flower". The English name was provided by reader Debby from Lazy S'S Farm & Nursery in Virginia.