''Andersonglossum occidentale'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name western hound's tongue. It is native to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, where it is a resident of the coniferous understory, including in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, Klamath Mountains, and the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Description

It is a perennial plant with hairy stems which may approach half a meter in height. It has rough, hairy leaves up to 15 centimeters long and four wide with winged petioles. From the top of the leafy stem appears an

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of tube-shaped reddish-purple flowers, each about a centimeter long. The fruits are bumpy, bristly

nutlet A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, a wide variety of dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context "nut" implies that the shell ...

s attached to each other in clusters of four.

References

Jepson Manual Treatment (TJM93) of ''Cynoglossum occidentale''CalPhotos: ''Cynoglossum occidentale''
Boraginoideae Flora of California Flora of Oregon Plants described in 1874 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asterid-stub