44 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
tube closed with prominent blunt scales, inserted below the seedcase (hypogynous) ; stamens 5, 
very short, included in and inserted on the corolla-tube (epi-petalous) ; carpels 2, stigma undivided; 
fruit of 4 little nuts, larger than in most genera in this family, covered with short hooked prickles, 
and attached by the inner edge to the conical receptacle and to the base of the persistent style. 
Stout herbs covered with hairs which are softer and more closely pressed to the plant than in 
other species of the Borage Family, and with alternate, undivided leaves. 
(1) Common Hound’s-tongue. (Cynoglos'sum officindle.) — Flowers dull lurid red ; leaves 
white with downy hairs. 
(2) Tuberous Hound’s-tongue. (Cynoglos'sum montanum.) — Flowers dull blue; leaves 
rough with scattered hairs. 
1. Common Hound’s-tongue. (Cynoglos'sum officinale. Linn.) — As just described. 
The flowers are rather small, of an inch across, funnel-shaped, the lobes slightly spreading, 
of a dull lurid red ; the calyx is downy with closely pressed white hairs ; and the 4 little nuts 
which compose the fruit are rather large, red, flattish, with prominent borders, and covered with 
barbed prickles ; the stems are 1-2 feet high, stout, round, and downy, thickly covered with 
rather large, alternate, narrow, downy leaves, the uppermost stalkless and half clasping the stem and 
the lower narrowed into short stalks, the root-leaves being larger, oval or lance-shaped, with long 
stalks. The whole plant is of a greyish-green owing to its being so densely felted with soft downy 
hairs. \Plate 16. 
A variety (Cynoglos'sum officinale, var. subgl&brum. Syme) almost without hairs, with 
the leaves green and shining above, has been found in the Isle of Wight. 
Not uncommon. Waste places, waysides, sandhills by the sea ; throughout England ; thinly 
scattered in the south of Scotland ; and only found in the south and east of Ireland. June — July. 
Biennial or perennial. 
2. Green-leaved Hound’s-tongue. (Cynoglos'sum mont&num. Linn.)— A very 
similar species, differing in having fewer and smaller flowers of a dull blue with reddish veins, in 
the nuts having no prominent border, in the stems being more slender, less erect, and the leaves 
fewer, much greener and very thinly coated with a few scattered hairs, and the upper leaves 
broader at the base. (Cynoglossum german icum. Jacq. ; Cynoglossum sylvaticum. Hcenke.) 
Rare. Woods and shady places, in the southern, eastern, and midland counties of England, 
unknown in Scotland, and only found near Dublin in Ireland. May — July. Biennial. 
III. *BORAGE. (BORAGO. Linn.) — Flowers large, blue, in loose forked clusters (cymes) 
coiled in bud. Calyx of 5 rather long hairy sepals, only united at the base, free from and inserted 
below the seedcase (inferior) ; corolla of 5 petals, united into a very short tube and spreading into 
5 large, star-like lobes, the throat of the tube being closed with 5 short scales, inserted below the 
seedcase (hypogynous) ; stamens 5, not included in the corolla-tube, the filaments very short and 
forked, and the anthers forming a cone round the pistil, inserted in the corolla-tube ; carpels 2 ; 
fruit of 4 little nuts, smooth or rough, attached to the flat receptacle and free from the style. 
Rough hairy herbs with alternate simple leaves. 
1. *Common Borage. (Bor&go offieindlis. Linn.) — The only species found in the 
British Isles, and though not a native yet well established in some localities. As just described- 
The brilliant blue flowers are about 1 inch across, with spreading pointed lobes, and grow on long 
stalks in loose drooping clusters ; the anthers are purplish-black with a purple horn on the back ; 
the stem is 9 inches to 2 feet high, thick, fleshy, hairy, branched and straggling ; the leaves are 
