Bee fly on Lungwort

Today has been hot. So hot that I've been out in the garden with a sleeveless dress and am now very pink.

I caught this little Bee fly(Bombylius major) lapping up the nectar from Lungwort flowers. I wouldn't normally expect them to be out and about until late April.

Lungwort is a pretty herb. Its Latin name is Pulmonaria officinalis which comes from pulmo, the latin for lung and officinalis, which states simply that the plant is an official medicine.

In the times when medicine was trial and error, herbalists used a philosophy called the Doctrine of Signatures. The short version is that if any part of a plant resembles part of a human body, that plant will be beneficial to cure ailments of the part or organ it resembles. In this case the hairy and spotted leaves resembled a damaged or diseased lung. This time the guess was good. Lungwort has a high mucilage content and this makes it useful in the treatment of chest conditions and sore throats. The leaves can also be used on top of a wound to stop bleeding.

Young leaves can be eaten in salad, but are a bit hairy! Cooked, but are slimy, the best internal use I can think of is that the plant is an ingredient of Vermouth.

It's not dark yet and it's almost time to go to work.