Cynoglossum australe

Cynoglossum australe commonly known as the Australian hound's tongue, 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 high, occasionally taller,  with stems covered in stiff, backward or downward spreading hairs. Lower leaves are lance to spoon-shaped, flat, 6-20 cm long, 10-35 mm wide on a petiole 2-10 cm 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 long, pedicel 2-5 mm 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 long and covered in spines of varying length on the lower surface.

Taxonomy and naming
Cynoglossum australe was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae. The specific epithet (australe) means "Australian".

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.