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bernard

By Bernard

Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom Gb

Wildflower/garden plant uncertainty.
This plant was here in the garden when we bought the property and it was identified for me as Pulmonaria officinalis and was a wild flower. I have recently bought and planted Pulmonaria saccharata and I can't tell the difference between this and the existing one. Would anyone be able to clarify this situation for me?



Lungwort_pulmonaria_officinalis_flower_detail

Answers

 

So far as I know there isn't any real difference in the way the two species look. Officinalis is a native of northern Europe and saccharata of France & Italy. Both can be viewed therefore as 'wild flowers'.

6 Nov, 2010

 

And a nice picture, too. Phil J

7 Nov, 2010

 

Thanks for your responses.
Mg, are you able to say more on the subject of wildflower identification? I suspect that the identification of a particular plant as wildflower or cultivated is quite difficult if not impossible. Buying a plant from a Garden centre, the label gives no clues and of course, a plant that appears in the garden courtesy of a bird doesn't have an identity card. I have a couple of books about wildflowers and the D G Hessayon 'Expert' series. The best one about wildflowers I have is 'Wildflowers of Britain' pub Readers Digest Which doesn't mention Pulmonaria (Lungwort). There is a website I use called Wildflowers of the British Isles, http://www.ukwildflowers.com/index.htm which identifies Pulmonaria officinalis as having become wild by escaping from gardens.
I must admit to being obsessed with categorising things, but I fancy I might have bitten off a bit more than I can chew
with this as I suspect there may be grey areas where it is impossible to be precise.
I would be grateful for any thought s you may have on the subject?

8 Nov, 2010

 

I've seen Pulmonaria growing wild over a lot of northern Europe and always assume it is officianalis. In the UK it has naturalised from gardens.

8 Nov, 2010

How do I say thanks?

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