Similar to : Narrow-Leaved Lungwort, but that has much longer leaves which are also narrow and elliptical.

Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature :

It is a perennial with grey-downy hairs such as to make it appear a bit dirty, but it may well be. You are much more likely to find this growing in or near a garden that in the wild, although it does indeed escape.

It is Heterostylous, where the flowers, although bisexual, come in two types, thrum and pin. The pin form has a long style and short stamens, the thrum form is the reverse of that.

PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOIDS It is often claimed (mainly by herb websites) that Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) does not contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA's), but this is untrue, for it is no exception at all in the Boriginaceae family in possessing PA's. In fact it contains Intermedine and its diastereoisomer (aka enantiomorph) Lycopsamine plus Symphytine, all pyrrolydizine alkaloids, and they are present in leaves, roots and rhizomes. All three of these pyrrolizidine alkaloids are poisonous (but not all PA's are). It will be seen that Symphytine is one of the PA's with a broken normally 14-membered ring.