Great Hound's Tongue: The 17th Flower of Spring!

What an exciting find!! One of my many favorite flowers on our property is the Great Hound's Tongue, which can be found popping up all over around our lower and upper forest. I've been looking for signs of this flower every time I go out, and about a week or so ago, I began seeing leaves pop up from bulbs that I was pretty sure were Hound's Tongues. Then, three days ago when I took the dogs up to the ridge line, I found one with buds just about to open!! HOORAY!! I'm having a lot of fun taking pictures of flower buds to show before the blossom because both are very pretty and it's neat to see the difference in appearance.

Great Hound's Tongue gets its name for the leave's resemblance to a dog's tongue. (They are very beautiful too, and I'll be showing a picture in the next week or so.) These flowers are found in oak or pine forests at lower and middle elevations, from British Columbia down to southern California. It is known to be poisonous and grazing animals will become photo-sensitive if they eat it. Farmers consider it a noxious weed because the burrs it produces stick to sheep's wool and is difficult to remove. If you would like to know more about this lovely flower, there is an nice page here: The Hound's Tongues of the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington.

Wikipedia also has a good source of information here:
Wiki: Cynoglossum Grande.

Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)