And now for something completely different. This morning I’m taking a break from peregrines to tell you about an unusual name.
I found this plant blooming on Lake Erie’s sandy shore at Magee Marsh, Ohio this month. It took me a while to identify it because it’s non-native.
Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) is native to Eurasia but was accidentally introduced to North America where it happily grows in waste places. It’s been spreading for so long that Michigan declared it one of the worst weeds in the state more than 100 years ago. This one was growing just across the lake from Michigan. Perhaps it migrated to Ohio.
The plant is twice-named for a dog’s tongue: “houndstongue” and cyno (dog) glossum (tongue). Theoretically, if you put a houndstongue leaf in your shoe no dogs will bite you, but that outcome is statistically likely even without the leaf.
If I’d crushed a leaf I would have noticed the plant smells bad — like “rats and mice” — which is one of its nicknames. Nonetheless people have used it as a cure for baldness, hemorrhoids, respiratory problems, and madness. There’s no proof that it heals but it will make you sick. Houndstongue contains cancer-causing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, toxic to the liver and to livestock.
Be careful when you put that leaf in your shoe.
p.s. This plant was part of the three witches’ Brew in Macbeth. Shakespeare called it “tongue of dog.”
(photo by Kate St. John)
Great article!
Such a pretty plant! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for pointing this one out. So many plants that seem harmless at first (and are actually pretty) turn out to be huge nuisances. When the first garlic mustard came up in our back yard, we decided to let it grow and see what it turned into. By the time I read your article about it in March 2011, it had taken hold and was spreading through the neighborhood. Yikes!
Reminds me of a similar experience to yours. Despite being considered “weedy”,
I’ve only seen one station that I know of. It occurred several years back,adjacent
to the Cyprus Lake trail of the Bruce Peninsula. Walking eastward toward the bluff
overlooking Georgian Bay,nearing trail’s end, their is a short boardwalk on the right.On the left side of the boardwalk are a few Hound’s tongue plants. They should be in
bloom in the next couple of weeks. This is being written as a “heads up” for interested
persons in the local delegation heading up to the Bruce in the next week or two. Don’t
be crushing any leaves.