lungwort

noun

• 1a bristly herbaceous European plant of the borage family, typically having white-spotted leaves and pink flowers which turn blue as they age.

  [so named because the leaves were said to have the appearance of a diseased lung]

  • Genus Pulmonaria, family Boraginaceae: several species, in particular P. officinalis

• 2 (also tree lungwort) a large lichen which grows on trees, forming lobed fronds which are green or brown above and orange-brown below.

  [so named because of its former use to treat lung disease, because of its apparent resemblance to lung tissue]

  • Lobaria pulmonaria, order Peltigerales