Pulmonaria generally retain their foliage until late winter, becoming mostly deciduous (depending on parentage) just before the new season's flowering and regrowth begin. The flowers are borne in corymbs on short stalks that reach just above the foliage. The flowers, most of which emerge usually either pink or violet, typically change to blue as they age.
Lungworts flower in late winter/very early spring, some often beginning around the end of February. Pulmonaria are perennials that grow from a deciduous basal rosette, usually no more than 6-10" tall with a spread up to 2'. The logical conclusion is that cultivars with more silver in the leaves should be able to tolerate more heat and possibly sun. These air pockets mask the appearance of chlorophyll in the leaves, creating the foliar patterns that we enjoy as gardeners. The silver spots on pulmonaria leaves are actually the result of foliar air pockets, used for cooling the lower surface of the leaves. Hence, the continued use of pulmonaria to treat many respiratory ailments.
Herbalists have long decried that when a plant resembles a particular body part, it must have medicinal properties to cure that particular part of the body. and the Latin translation, pulmonaria, which became the name for the genus. The name pulmonaria arose from the foliage, which is often green with white spots, resembling a diseased lung.
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