A bolt from the blue
THE closest most get to it these days is the intensely blue flower nestling atop a properly constructed glass of Pimm’s. No herb, once so generous in its offerings to mankind, has retreated further from popular awareness. Its many English folk names—bee plant, bee bush, bee bread, ox tongue, talewort, star-flower, cool tankard, herb of gladness, borak, lisan selvi, lesan-el-tour, euphrosinum and common bugloss—reflect its perceived attributes. Its five-petal flowers grow together in long, scorpioid cymes and are wreathed in a haze of soft bristles. On the human palate, they have a moreish, honey flavour. The hairy leaves and stems may be likened to bovine tongues in texture and shape—hence, a cow or ox, and the Latin , tongue.
