Cynoglossum australe

Cynoglossum australe commonly known as the Australian hound's tongue,^[2] is a flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is a perennial herb with blue, pink or whitish flowers found in most states of Australia.

Australian hound's tongue
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Boraginaceae
Genus:	Cynoglossum
Species:	C. australe
Binomial name
Cynoglossum australe R.Br.[1]

Description

Cynoglossum australe is an upright herb 30–75 cm (12–30 in) high, occasionally taller, with stems covered in stiff, backward or downward spreading hairs. Lower leaves are lance to spoon-shaped, flat, 6–20 cm (2.4–7.9 in) long, 10–35 mm (0.39–1.38 in) wide on a petiole 2–10 cm (0.79–3.94 in) long, becoming sessile, wedge-shaped at the base, a pointed apex and decreasing in size near the flowers. The corolla is blue, sometimes pink or whitish, 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long, pedicel 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long, sepals elliptic-shaped to almost triangular, rounded or blunt and enlarging as the fruit ages. Flowering occurs mostly in spring and summer and the fruit is a flattened, oval to globe-shaped schizocarp, light brown to yellowish-brown, 2.5–3.5 mm (0.098–0.138 in) long and covered in spines of varying length on the lower surface.^[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Cynoglossum australe was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae.^[5][6] The specific epithet (australe) means "Australian".^[7]

Distribution and habitat

Australian hound's tongue is a widespread species found growing in a diverse range of locations including woodland, grassland, sand dunes and montane forest in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.^[2][3]