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Hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) is a PA-containing common biennial weed of cultivated and waste areas that grows up to 3 ft (1 m) tall with alternate tongueshaped, hairy basal leaves up to 20 inches (0.5 m) long. The upper leaves are lanceolate and sessile. The flowers are small, regular, reddish purple, and produced on terminal racemes. The fruits separate into four brown nutlets at maturity, which are covered with hooked barbs that readily attach to animal hair, aiding in their dispersal. Hound's tongue contains the pyrrolizidine alkaloids heliosupine and echinatine, with the greatest concentration (2.1% dry weight) in the preflowering rosette stage. Although reduced in quantity, the alkaloids remain present in the dried plant.
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