HOUND'S TONGUE 



which iorni a root abo\X', on short antht-r-stalks 



205 



ol)lon^ and L;rccn. 

 The siylc is tapered, and not as long as the stamens, which are included. 

 The stigma is blunt and notched. Mound's Tongue is thus ada[)ted 

 to cross-pollination with insect-visits, but self-])ollination without. 



The nuts are covered with spines or short-hooked prickles which 

 aid in their dispersal by animals. 



Hountl's Tongue is sometimes a halophyte, living on a saline 

 soil, at others a sand-loving plant, when it is found on .sand soil. 



Several beetles, Mcli- 

 getlies marimcs, Jll. obscnnis, 

 LoHgitarsus anchnsa", L. 

 qnadrigiittatus, Phyllotreta 

 y -piistnlata, Teiiiodactyla 

 liolsatica, and a Hy, Napo- 

 inyza lateralis, are found 

 upon it. 



Cynoglossjcni. Dioscorides, 

 is Irom the Greek, cuon, 

 dog, glossa, tongue, from the 

 form or texture of the leaf 

 The second name refers to 

 its use in medicine. 



Dog's - tongue, Gipsy 

 Flower, Hound's - tongue, 

 Rose Noble, Scaklhead, are 

 all names bestowed upon it. 

 Turner, to explain the name 

 Hound's Tongue, says: "it 

 is sfood aofainst the bitinsj 

 of mad doggs ". 



It was sup[)osed to have the power to prevent dogs barking at 

 a person if laid beneath their feet, and Gerard says that " wild goats or 

 deer, when they be wounded with arrows, do shake them out by eating 

 of this plant, and heal their wounds". It has a smell ot mice. Being- 

 astringent it was used in medicine. Hound's Tongue is narcotic. In 

 Chaucer's day the plant was recommended for stuttering. It was held 

 to be antiscorbutic. Cattle refuse it. 



Essential Specific Ciiar.vcters: — 



213. Cynoglosswn officinale, L. — Stem erect, stout, dnwiiy, leaves 

 downy, lower oblong, stalked, upper lanceolate, narrow below, tlowers 

 puri)lish-red, veined, nuts flattened, prickly. 



I'ii.,1.. ri-itti:r»\- i,.irii. 



Hocnd'-s Tongue (CynioglossKiu oJj'uhialc'L.) 



