BOBAGINACE^. 1 1 9 



curved and spreadincr, in fruit longer than the calyx, some of the 

 lower ones occasionally with a leafiike bract at the base. Corolla nearly 

 i inch across, dull lurid red, veined. Nucules greyish-bromi, i inch 

 long, surrounded by a raised band, very thickly studded with short 

 doubly hooked spines. Pubescence variable in quantity, very soft to 

 the touch, completely hiding the small tubercles at the base of the hairs 

 on the upper side of the leaves in var. a, which, however, passes 

 insensibly into var. ^, which has the leaves green and somewhat 

 shinmg above. Plant smelling of mice. 



Sometimes the root does not die after flowering, but produces barren 

 tufts, which flower in the third year, so that it becomes " perennant." 



Common Hound's Tongue. 



French, Cynoglosse officinale. German, gebrauchliche Hundzunge. 

 TMs plant was formerly employed in medicine, but is no longer used. It is narcotic 

 and somewhat astringent, and has been given with advantage in scrofulous complaints 

 in the form of decoction, and also applied externally, but its very disagi-eeable scent 

 has caused it to be discarded from modern practice. Among the older physicians it 

 was regarded as an anti-spasmodic, and Sir Wm. Coles tells us in his " Art of 

 Simijling," that it " will tye the tongues of houndes, so that they shall not bark at 

 you, if it be laid under the bottom of your feet as Miraldus writeth." 



SPECIES n.-GYNOGLOSSUM MONTANUM. Lam-. 



Plate MCXIX. 



Beich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVIH. Tab. MCCCXXXIH. Fig. 1. 

 Billot, ¥\. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 3160. 



C. sylvaticum, " Hclnlce ;" Sm. Engl. Bot. No. 1642. Eook. & Am. Brit. Fl ed viii 

 p. 296. 



Radical leaves elliptical, attenuated into rather long petioles ; stem 

 leaves rather distant, the lowest ones stalked, elliptical, the inter- 

 mediate and upper ones oblong-elliptical, often more or less panduri- 

 form, broad at the base and amplexicaul. Racemes commonly without 

 bracts. Calyx segments strapshaped or oblong-strapshaped, nearly as 

 long as the corolla. Nucules Avithout a prominent margin, but with 

 the spines usually larger towards the margins than in the centre of 

 the disk of the face. Plant green, clothed with very thin short pube- 

 scence, harsh to the touch. 



In waste places and woods. Rare. It occurs in Surrey, Essex, 

 Middlesex, Northampton, Gloucester, Warwick, and Oxford. In 

 Scotland it is found in the counties of Perth and Forfar, but doubt- 

 fully native. In Ireland it is very rare, and has only been found 

 near Dublin, where it is perhaps not native. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Biennial. Spring, Summer. 



