The blades are usually large, from narrowly lanceolate to oval, with the base ranging from heart shaped to very gradually narrowing, and can have a sharply pointed or blunt tip.

[3] The inflorescence is a terminal scorpioid cyme as a cymose corymb, with bracts, on short pedicels (stalks), reaching just above the foliage.

[6] In the times of sympathetic magic, the spotted oval leaves of P. officinalis were thought to symbolize diseased, ulcerated lungs, and so were used to treat pulmonary infections.

The common name in many languages also refers to lungs, as in English "lungwort", German Lungenkraut, French herbe aux poumons, Serbian plućnjak...

In some East European languages, the common name is derived from a word for honey, e.g. Russian medunitza, Polish miodunka, Serbian meduniče, Bulgarian "медуница".

[4] Pulmonaria is an early spring flowering deciduous perennial, retaining its leaves till late winter, just before the new growth emerges.

These include the case-bearer Coleophora pulmonariella, which feeds exclusively on P. saccharata, and the moth Ethmia pusiella, which has been recorded on P. officinalis.

[3]They are especially valued as groundcover in damp shaded areas, producing their blue and/or pink flowers in late winter and early spring, accompanied by dense clusters of heart-shaped leaves that are often strikingly mottled and marbled, throughout summer.