Skip to main content
lungwort

lungwort

1 7.7
A garden plant with spotted leaves and blue or pink flowers that blooms in early spring
  • noun
  • /ˈlʌŋˌwɜrt/
: pulmonaria
  • She decided to plant lungwort in her flower beds for its striking spotted leaves and vibrant blossoms.

Examples

  • The garden was alive with color as the lungwort bloomed in shades of blue and pink during early spring.

  • And then there's lungwort and hostas who gorillas in here that just do fantastic.

  • The lungwort spread beautifully across the garden, attracting pollinators with its delicate flowers.

Synonyms

pulmonaria
vslungwort
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A plant with spotted leaves and early spring blue or pink flowers

is the common garden name used for the same plants in informal contexts

Surface Forms

lungwort singular
lungworts plural

Morphology

lungwort = lung + wort (semi-transparent) = lung + wort

The compound visibly contains 'lung' and 'wort', but 'wort' is archaic and learners may not know it; the meaning 'a specific garden plant' is not fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Lungwort comes from an old idea that the plant's spotted leaves looked like lungs, so people used it for lung illness. The second part wort means 'plant' or 'herb', the same ending as St. John's wort, so the name helps you remember it as a 'plant for lungs'.