Nettle Leaved Bellflower

Description

The alternate name throatwort is derived from an old belief that C. trachelium is a cure for sore throat, and the species name trachelium refers to its use as treatment of the throat in folk medicine. Other folknames include Our Lady’s Bells because the color blue was identified with the Virgin Mary’s scarf, veil, or shawl; Coventry Bells because C. trachelium was especially common in fields around Coventry; and “Bats-in-the-Belfry” or in the singular “Bat-in-the-Belfry”, because the stamens inside the flower were like bats hanging in the bell of a church steeple.