WorldFloraDB - Symphytum asperum

Characteristics

Plant to c. 80 cm tall, very scabrid. Roots becoming very thick. Basal lvs with lamina very large, ovate to oblong; upper side especially densely covered with rigid, bulbous-based hairs; base cuneate to subcordate; cauline lvs similar but smaller, with the narrowly winged petiole not decurrent on stem; uppermost lvs subsessile or with short petiole. Cymes densely hispid. Calyx c. 5 mm long at anthesis; lobes accrescent, extending nearly to base, lanceolate, usually subacute, rarely obtuse. Corolla 12-17 mm long, light purple or purplish blue at first, becoming blue, especially when dried; lobes c. 1 mm long, rounded; scales narrowtriangular. Filament width usually < anther width except at base; anthers = or shortly projecting beyond scales. Nutlets 3-5 mm long, finely rugose or granular.

More

Much like no. 1 [Symphytum officinale L.]; hairs of the stem and infl stouter, flattened, often recurved; lvs not decurrent, or only shortly (to 1 cm) and narrowly so; cor pink, turning blue; filaments narrower than the anthers; connective not projecting; nutlets roughened. Native of the Caucasus region, occasional in waste places across the n. part of our range, Que. to B.C. June–Aug. (S. asperrimum) S. tuberosum L., with a rhizome that is tuberous-thickened at intervals and with slender cauline hairs as in no. 1, but nondecurrent lvs as in no. 2, has been reported as adventive in N. Engl.

A bush. It grows 1.2-1.5 m high and spreads 1.5-2 m wide. The leaves are oval and have bristles. The leaves are 25 cm long. The flowers are tube shaped and 18 mm long. The start pink but turn blue.

Life form

perennial

Growth form

herb

Growth support

-

Foliage retention

-

Sexuality

hermaphrodite

Pollination

entomogamy

Spread

epizoochory

Mature width (meter)

1.05 - 1.3

Mature height (meter)

1.5

Root system

rhizome tap-root

Rooting depth (meter)

-

Root diameter (meter)

-

Flower color

Blooming months

Jan	Feb	Mar
Apr	May	Jun
Jul	Aug	Sep
Oct	Nov	Dec

Fruit color

-

Fruiting months

-

Nitrogen fixer

-

Photosynthetic pathway

c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 5-10.

More

Waste places in Britain.

Light
Soil humidity
Soil texture
Soil acidity
Soil nutriment
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

Uses	animal food environmental use food gum medicinal poison
Edible	leaves roots shoots
Therapeutic use	Tumor (unspecified), Antirheumatic agents (unspecified), Gastrointestinal diseases (unspecified), Inflammation (unspecified)
Human toxicity	weak toxic (whole)
Animal toxicity	weak toxic (whole)

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	-
Minimum temperature (C°)	-
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-