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Side by side
What tells them apart
Both are blue and hairy. Purple viper's bugloss has funnel flowers along a curved stem, not downward-facing stars, and far more alkaloids. It is not eaten.
Confusion that poisons
How to tell it
The whole plant is covered in stiff bristles that prickle lightly. Blue five-pointed flowers with a black centre, facing the ground. Large wrinkled leaves that taste of cucumber.
How to tell it
Funnel flowers, purple-blue, lined along a curved stem like a scorpion's tail. The whole plant is rough and bristly. Large basal leaves in a rosette.