[Hound's Tongues: The Genera Adelina and Cynoglossum in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Common Hound's Tongue, Gypsyflower, Gypsy-flower, Hound's Tongue

Cynoglossum officinale

Close-up of a flower of Common Hound's Tongue, Gypsyflower, Gypsy-flower, Hound's Tongue: Cynoglossum officinale

The photo above shows a close-up of the reddish-purple flower of common hound's tongue as seen on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Adams.......July 2005.
Common Hound's Tongue, Gypsyflower, Gypsy-flower, Hound's Tongue: Cynoglossum officinaleThe photo at right shows common hound's tongue on the Major Creek Plateau, Columbia Gorge Scenic Area.....6/26/91. The inflorescence consists of many axillary branches or false racemes arising from the upper leaves.
Characteristics:

Common hound's tongue is a weedy biennial species with stout, leafy stems from 40-120 cm high. The herbage consists of velvety hairs. The leaves are 8-20 cm long with the lower leaves slender-petioled with oblong to oblanceolate blades that taper gradually to the petiole while the upper leaves are sessile with clasping bases and lance-oblong blades.

The inflorescence consists of numerous false racemes extending from the upper leaf axils. The pedicels are 5-10 mm long. The calyx lobes are 5-7 mm long in fruit and oblong in outline with obtuse tips. The corollas are a dull reddish-purple with the tube about 4-6 mm long and the spreading lobes of the limb about 1 cm wide. The dorsal surface of the nutlets are flattened (but covered by numerous, stout prickles) and surrounded by a raised margin (See photo below.).

Habitat:

Common hound's tongue is a weedy species of disturbed sites, especially along roadsides or waste areas.

Range:

Common hound's tongue is a native of Europe which has become established in North America and is found over much of the Pacific Northwest.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations of 100'-2400' from near Cape Horn east to near the Dalles, OR.

Close-up sideview of a flower of Common Hound's Tongue, Gypsyflower, Gypsy-flower, Hound's Tongue: Cynoglossum officinale

The photo above shows a close-up sideview of the flower of common hound's tongue as seen on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Adams.......July 2005.

Developing nutlets of Common Hound's Tongue, Gypsyflower, Gypsy-flower, Hound's Tongue: Cynoglossum officinale

The photo above shows a close-up of the nutlets of common hound's-tongue as seen at about 3650' at the end of forest road #170 on the southwestern flanks of King Mt., several miles southeast of Mt. Adams itself.......July 17, 2005. Besides the color of the flowers, this species can be identified from the similar Pacific Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum grande) of the Columbia River Gorge because the dorsal surface of the nutlets of C. officinale are flattened with raised edges, as seen on the upper-most nutlet, while the dorsal surface of C. grande is broadly rounded.
Paul Slichter