240 CYNOGLOSSUM. ["class v. order i. 



1. C officina'le, Linn. (Fig. 319.) common Hound' s tongue. Leaves 

 lanceolate, downy ; the upper ones subcordated at the base, sessile; 

 the lower on footstalks; stamens shorter than the corolla. 



English Botany, t. 921. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 261. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol, i. p. 105. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 166. 



Root tapering. The whole plant very soft and downy, of a dull 

 green, exhaling when rubbed a nauseous foetid odour. The s^emfrom 

 one to two feet high or more, erect, round, striated, branched, and 

 leafy ; lower leaves oblong, lanceolate, tapering into a broad stout long 

 footstalk, the upper narrower, the margin waved, dilated towards the 

 base, where it is more or less cordate, embracing the stem ; mid-rib 

 strong, with several branched lateral ones. Inflorescence terminal , 

 branched, spreading racemes. Flowers numerous, on short pedicles, 

 which elongate after flowering. Calyx of five deep ovate acute seg- 

 ments, very downy, becoming much larger after ilowering, reflexed as 

 the fruit advances to maturity, and sometimes falls off, but mostly per- 

 sistent. Corolla lunnel-shaped, with a short wide cylindrical tube ; 

 its orifice closed by five obtuse convex valves ; the Ihnh ol live rounded 

 obtuse segments, of a dull red or purplish colour. Stamens on short 

 filaments, alternating with the valves at the orifice of the tube. Style 

 about the length of the tube, becoming much larger as the fruit ad- 

 vances, and forms an angular column, round which they are attached. 

 Fruit four obovate flattish nwts, attached in the centre to the enlarged 

 base of the style, very rough, with rigid (hollow when dry) conical 

 points, having at the extremity a great number of minute spreading 

 cartilaginous teeth, by which the nxxts attach themselves to clothes, 

 animals, fkc. 



Habitat. — Waste and rubbishy places ; frequent in England and 

 Ireland, Icss :^o in Scotland. 



Perennial ; flowering in June and July. 



This plant is mucilaginous and narcotic, and was esteemed as an 

 anti-spasmodic, having an extremely unpleasant odour, like that of 

 mice. It is not now used in England, but is still retained amongst 

 the list of preparations used by the Italian physicians; but with what 

 advantage over the other more elegant remedies that we possess, having 

 similar properties, we have yet to learn. 



2. C. sylvat'icum, Hcenhe. (Fig. 320.) green leaved Hound's tongue. 

 Leaves lanceolate, shining, slightly hairy and roughish, especially 

 beneath, the upper ones subcordate at the base, serai aniplexicaul, 

 sessile, the lower on footstalks ; stamens shorter than the corolla. 



English Botany, t. 1642.— English Flora, vol. i. p. 261.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 105. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 166, 



Root tapering. The whole plant of a pale shining green, sparingly 

 scattered over with hairs, having, unlike the last, little odour when 



