Borage or Viper's Bugloss Honey

AKA: Blue Bottle, Blue Weed, Wild Borage, Bugloss, Viper’s Bugloss, Cat’s-tail, Blue Cat’s-tail, Viper’s Grass, Iron-weed, Langdebeef, Our Lord’s Flannel or Our Saviour’s Flannel, Snake Flower, Snake’s Bugloss, Viper’s Herb, Blue Thistle, Blue Devil, pa’ qué te quiero mañosa (Spanish — “why do you want to touch” — a reference to its thorns)

The name Viper’s Bugloss came about from a perceived resemblance between the seeds and a viper’s head, or the spots on the stem like a viper’s skin. It was thought to be a useful antidote to snakebite based on the fanciful logic of 14th century herbalist’s Doctrine of Signatures that states that the appearance of a plant indicates its use to humanity. In his 1656 The Art of Simpling, herbalist William Coles described the plant: “its stalks all to be speckled like a snake or viper, and is a most singular remedy against poison and the sting of scorpions.” The Latin name Echium originates ultimately from the Greek echis for viper, while bugloss is derived from the Greek for Ox Tongue — a reference to the shape and roughness of the leaves.