Linaria vulgaris (
Common Toadflax) is a species of
toadflaxLinaria is a genus of about 100 species of herbaceous annuals and perennials that was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae...
(
Linaria), native to most of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and northern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, from the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
south to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
in the west, and east to eastern
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
and western
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
It is a
perennial plantA perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants...
with short spreading roots, erect to decumbent stems 15–90 cm high, with fine, threadlike, glaucous blue-green
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
2-6 cm long and 1-5 mm broad. The flowers are similar to those of the
snapdragonSnapDragon is a contemporary jazz band based in San Antonio, Texas. The group released their debut CD, "Stealing a Moment" on Humbug Records in 2008, and the 10-song CD soon broke the Top 100 in U.S radio airplay...
, 25-33 mm long, pale yellow except for the lower lip which is orange, borne in dense terminal
racemeA raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s from mid summer to mid autumn.
Linaria vulgaris (
Common Toadflax) is a species of
toadflaxLinaria is a genus of about 100 species of herbaceous annuals and perennials that was traditionally placed in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae...
(
Linaria), native to most of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and northern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, from the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
south to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
in the west, and east to eastern
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
and western
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.
Growth
It is a
perennial plantA perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants...
with short spreading roots, erect to decumbent stems 15–90 cm high, with fine, threadlike, glaucous blue-green
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
2-6 cm long and 1-5 mm broad. The flowers are similar to those of the
snapdragonSnapDragon is a contemporary jazz band based in San Antonio, Texas. The group released their debut CD, "Stealing a Moment" on Humbug Records in 2008, and the 10-song CD soon broke the Top 100 in U.S radio airplay...
, 25-33 mm long, pale yellow except for the lower lip which is orange, borne in dense terminal
racemeA raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s from mid summer to mid autumn. The
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
is a globose
capsuleIn botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within...
5-11 mm long and 5-7 mm broad, containing numerous small seeds.
Ecology
The plant is widespread on
ruderalA ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonise disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural , or due to human influence - constructional , or agricultural .Ruderal species typically dominate the disturbed area for a...
spots, along roads, in dunes, and on disturbed and cultivated land.
Because the flower is largely closed by its underlip,
pollinationPollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
requires strong insects such as
beeBees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s and
bumblebeeA bumblebee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere....
s (
Bombus species).
The plant is foodplant for a large number of insects such as the Sweet-Gale Moth (
Acronicta euphorbiae),
Mouse MothThe Mouse Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a very widespread species with a Holarctic distribution.This is a rather drab but distinctive species. The forewings are uniform dark brown with three blackish spots arranged in a triangle. The hindwings are buffish, darker towards the...
(
Amphipyra tragopoginis),
Silver YThe Silver Y is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings.-Description:...
(
Autographa gamma),
Calophasia lunulaCalophasia lunula is a species of noctuid moth known by the common name toadflax moth. It is used as an agent of biological pest control against yellow toadflax and Dalmatian toadflax Calophasia lunula is a species of noctuid moth known by the common name toadflax moth. It is used as an agent of...
, Gorgone Checkerspot (
Charidryas gorgone carlota), Toadflax Pug (
Eupithecia linariata), Satyr Pug (
Eupithecia satyrata),
Falseuncaria ruficiliana, Bog Fritillary (
Boloria eunomiaThe Bog Fritillary or Ocellate Bog Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone and the Nearctic ecozone....
),
Pyrrhia umbraThe Bordered Sallow is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is 27-35 mm. The length of the forewings is 16-19 mm...
, Brown Rustic (
Rusina ferruginea), and
Stenoptilia bipunctidactylaStenoptilia bipunctidactyla is a moth of the Pterophoroidea family. It is found in Europe and Anatolia.The wingspan is 17-25 mm. The moths fly from March to October depending on the location....
.
Cultivation and uses
While most commonly found as a weed, toadflax is sometimes cultivated for cut flowers, which are long-lasting in the vase. Like snapdragons (AntirrhinumAntirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed...
), they are often grown in children's gardens for the "snapping" flowers which can be made to "talk" by squeezing them at the base of the corolla.
The plant requires ample drainage, but is otherwise adaptable to a variety of conditions.
It has escaped from cultivation in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
where it is a common
naturalisedIn biology, naturalisation is the process when foreign or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, where they multiply by natural regeneration....
weedA weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-made settings such as gardens, lawns or agricultural areas, but also in parks, woods and other natural areas. More specifically, the term is often...
of roadsides and poor soils; it is listed as an
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
in several U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
Other names
Linaria acutiloba
Fisch. ex Rchb. is a synonym. Because this plant grows as a weed, it has acquired a large number of local colloquial names, including brideweed, bridewort, butter and eggs (but see Lotus corniculatusLotus corniculatus is a common flowering plant native to grassland temperate Eurasia and North Africa. The common name is Bird's-foot Trefoil , though the common name is often also applied to other members of the genus...
), butter haycocks, bread and butter, bunny haycocks, bunny mouths, calf's snout, Continental weed, dead men's bones, devil's flax, devil's flower, doggies, dragon bushes, eggs and bacon (but see Lotus corniculatusLotus corniculatus is a common flowering plant native to grassland temperate Eurasia and North Africa. The common name is Bird's-foot Trefoil , though the common name is often also applied to other members of the genus...
), eggs and butter, false flax, flaxweed, fluellen (but see KickxiaKickxia is a genus of plants in the plantain family. It includes several species of plants known commonly as cancerworts or fluellins. They are mostly native to Europe, but two species, K. elatine and K. spuria are well-known elsewhere as invasive weeds. Genus Kickxia was named after the Belgian...
), gallweed, gallwort, impudent lawyer, Jacob's ladder (but see PolemoniumPolemonium, commonly called Jacob's ladder, is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Polemoniaceae, native to cool temperate to arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and also in the southern Andes in South America...
), lion's mouth, monkey flower (but see MimulusMimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first...
), North American ramsted, rabbit flower, rancid, ransted, snapdragon (but see AntirrhinumAntirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed...
), wild flax, wild snapdragon, wild tobacco (but see NicotianaNicotiana is a genus of herbs and shrubs of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, Australia, south west Africa and the South Pacific. Various Nicotiana species, commonly referred to as tobacco plants, are cultivated and grown to produce tobacco. Of all Nicotiana species,...
), yellow rod, yellow toadflax.