Most of my encounters with Great Hound's Tongue (Cynoglossum grande) on my Columbia River Gorge wildflower hikes have been with individual plants. It's a spectacular and beautiful perennial that seems to draw a lot of attention. There is a single plant that grows next to a popular trail at Catherine Creek, and there is always little path to it flattened through the grass when it's in bloom.
Jolley associates Great Hound's Tongue with oak woodlands, and that's where I've found it, too. I would add that I usually find it growing within a few feet of poison oak, so take care. When Great Hound's Tongue is in bloom, the Poison Oak foliage is easy to spot because it is a very glossy bronze color.
In the spring of 2007 I happened to notice that there is a very nice stand of Great Hound's Tongue growing on the rocky slopes above Highway 14 near the north end of the Hood River Bridge over the Columbia. Look for it in mid-April.
Ash Creek Images
Photographs of the West by Doug Gorsline
Photo of a Great Hounds Tongue Flowerstem at the Cherry Orchard Trail, WA.
