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Viper’s Bugloss
August 3, 2021
Viper’s Bugloss – Echium vulgare – beside Highway 15 near Franktown, ON – this is the second version, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. The earlier version done in 2010 was probably my first success with soft pastels. I didn’t try them again until last year.
So cheerful and beautiful with pink buds and blue-violet flowers along tall stems, it’s tempting to pick them for wildflower bouquets, but the plant has tiny spines along the stem and leaves that are very irritating to the skin, so are best enjoyed left where they are, growing en masse in summer fields beside the highways in eastern Ontario.
I was curious about the name… according to the Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism edited by Michael Stuart (c. 1979, 1987 ISBN 0-9999-48911), they were formerly one of the most respected plants used for the treatment of viper’s snake bite venom.
Categories: Art for sale, Canada, flowers, landscapes, Ontario, summer, Wildflowers | Comments Off on Viper’s Bugloss
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