Lungwort sounds like something you don't want to have ailing you. Pulmonaria sounds a little less ominous, and so this is one of the plants I like to call by its Latin name. I also call it the "Willie Sutton Plant." This particular variety--which does not even sport the heavily spotted leaves that make other varieties so appealing--apparently thinks I'm trying to imprison it in my garden, and it insists on busting out. It seeds itself down wherever it can, spreading its leaves into fuzzy hemispheres and looking quite lovely during the early summer, but then showing its dark side later in the year when it can look moldy and black. It is not a bank robber, as Willie Sutton was, but it is a habitat robber--and it is currently invading my woodland.

I have, however, put it on parole for now. It is among the earliest bloomers in the spring. Its hairy leaves are not bothered by any creature that I know of, and the detailing of its petals is quite lovely. It is not really a felon, I suppose. Just a misdemeanor. Maybe probation is all that's necessary? My job, as probation officer, is to stop crime before it takes root. Or at least dig out the roots. Time to snap on my badge--I mean, shovel.