5. Cynoglossum L. (hounds tongue)
Plants biennial
or perennial herbs, with stout taproots or less commonly short, stout rhizomes,
the rootstock sometimes somewhat woody. Stems erect, usually solitary,
unbranched below the inflorescence or few- to several-branched toward the tip,
variously hairy. Leaves alternate and basal, the basal leaves well developed at
flowering, relatively large (10–30 cm long, 20–50 mm wide), the blade
oblanceolate to elliptic or oblong-elliptic, tapered at the base into a long,
winged petiole, grading abruptly into the stem leaves. Stem leaves sessile or
the lowermost with short, winged petioles, the blade variously shaped, the
surfaces moderately to densely hairy. Inflorescences sometimes paired, of short
to elongate, ascending to arched, terminal, scorpioid, spikelike racemes, these
usually grouped into panicles, the flowers with stalks 2–5(–12) mm long at
flowering, usually elongating to 5–12 mm at fruiting, spreading to drooping or
recurved at fruiting, the flowers lacking bracts but the inflorescence branch
points sometimes with leaflike bracts. Cleistogamous flowers not produced.
Calyces actinomorphic, 5-lobed nearly to the base, the lobes 2–5 mm long,
oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, becoming somewhat elongated to 4–10 mm at
fruiting and elliptic to ovate, hairy, persistent and spreading to loosely
ascending or occasionally reflexed at fruiting. Corollas 4–7 mm long, broadly
funnelform to trumpet-shaped, actinomorphic, purplish red or pale blue to light
blue, the tube relatively short, the throat with 5 small, hairy, scalelike
appendages, the lobes 3–5 mm long. Stamens attached near the midpoint of the
corolla tube, the filaments short, the anthers oblong to elliptic, not exserted
from the corolla. Ovary deeply 4-lobed, the style relatively short and not
exserted from the corolla, usually persistent and sometimes becoming stout and
tapered from the base at fruiting, the stigma capitate, shallowly 2-lobed.
Fruits dividing into usually 4 nutlets, these 5–7 mm long, technically
spreading but this not apparent at maturity, asymmetrically broadly obovoid,
attached to the narrowly pyramidal gynobase at the tip (but appearing to be
attached laterally toward the base), the attachment scar large and sometimes
surrounded by a rounded, puckered rim, rounded or bluntly pointed at the tip,
the surface with dense, stout, tapered, apically barbed tubercles and sometimes
also finely wrinkled, pale gray to nearly white or tan to dull brown. About 75
species, nearly worldwide.