I've seen viper's bugloss a few places around town, but so far this year (2006), I've only seen it near the bridge over Mill River between the two old Draper parking lots. I took the pictures on July 17, although it had been flowering for some time before that. My Audibon wildflower book says it flowers from June to October. It also says, "A European species introduced as early as 1683, this plant is considered a weed by some and a desirable wildflower by others. Its common name may derive from the resemblance of the nutlets to a snake's head, or else because the dried plant was an alleged remedy for snakebite. Bugloss is from the ancient Greek for "ox-tongue," which its leaves were thought to resemble."          Wildflower Menu           Next             HOME