Hounds Tongue

Hounds Tongue

            Hounds Tongue  (Cynoglossum officinale) Houndstongue, also referred to as sheep’s lice, dog’s tongue, dog bur, beggar’s lice, woolmat, and glovewort, is a member of the  Boraginaceae or Borage family.

Houndstongue is a biennial or short-lived perennial forb that can grow from 1 to 4 feet tall. Stems are unbranched below the inflorescence, hairy, coarse, and may produce a single stem or multiple stems that are leafy throughout. Leaves of the plant are alternate, 1 to 12 inches

long, 1 to 3 inches wide, rough, hairy, and lack teeth or lobes. The leaves have distinct veins and resemble a hound’s tongue. Flowers are small, terminal, and a dull reddish-purple color with five lobes. Four prickly nutlets are produced from the flower, each about 1/3 inch long. Seeds are ovoid, flat on top with a scar that runs near the lower surface and have a hard spiny husk with barbs.

The plant occurs in temperate regions and can survive hot, dry summers, as well as cold winters. Houndstongue is found on a variety of soils from well-drained, relatively coarse, alkaline soils to clay subsoil. The plant is tolerant to shade and thrives in wet grassland conditions. In North America, houndstongue is found on rangeland, pastures, abandoned croplands, roadsides, waste areas, and is well adapted to forested areas.

Houndstongue contains large quantities of pyrrolizidine alkaloids that include echinatine, heliosupine, and acetylheliosupine. The concentration of pyrrolizidine alkaloids is highest in the rosette leaves of mature plants. Poisoning usually occurs when dry houndstongue plants are mixed with hay and fed to animals. The toxic alkaloids stop liver cells from reproducing in animals. Sheep are less vulnerable to poisoning than are cattle or horses. Animals may survive for six months or longer after they have consumed a lethal amount. This delay between consuming the plant and the development of symptoms makes diagnoses very difficult.

            This plant is at the top of the Burke County Weed Board watch list. It is currently found in Ward and Mountrail Counties and through most counties of Montana. The small bur like seeds have Velcro like hooks and firmly attach to clothing and animal hair. Likely scenarios for movement into Burke County are through seeds attached to wildlife or livestock, or through seeds attached to hunters clothing or hunting dogs. Watch for it in noncrop areas, especially around the edges of water or in heavy cover where wildlife might rest.

BLACK HENBANE (Hyoscyamus niger)

Black henbane, also referred to as common henbane, hogbean, hogbane, or insane root, is

a member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family. Black henbane is an annual or biennial plant that can range in height from 1 to 3 feet tall. Rosette leaves are alternate and have petioles almost as long as the leaf blades. Stems of a mature plant are erect, leafy, thick, coarse, and widely branched. Leaves are alternate, oblong to ovate, coarsely toothed to shallowly lobed, and grayish-green in color. Foliage is covered with fine, sticky hairs and has a foul odor. Flowers are

funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, brownish-yellow with dark purple veins, and arranged in long, leafy, spike-like clusters. Fruit of the plant is pineapple-shaped, approximately 1 inch long, and contains hundreds of tiny, black seeds.

            Black Henbane is of major concern because it is currently found in McKenzie county and has a strong possibility of being carried in mud attached to oilfield related vehicles. All parts of the plant contain alkaloids which can be poisonous to humans and animals if consumed.