Australian hound's tongue
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Cynoglossum
Species:
C. australe
Binomial name
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.

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]

References

  1. "Cynoglossum australe". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cynoglossum australe". VICFLORA-flora of Victoria. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Peter. "Cynoglossum australe". PlantNET-NSW flora online. Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  4. Cosgrove, Meredith (2014). Photographic Guide to Native Plants of the Australian Capital Territory. Meadow Argus. p. 80. ISBN 9780994183408.
  5. "Cynoglossum australe". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  6. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis. London. p. 495.
  7. George, A.S; Sharr, F.A (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables. p. 144. ISBN 9780958034197.
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