Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Balkan Toadflax
Linaria dalmatica
Plantain family (Plantaginaceae)

This plant was introduced from Europe as an ornamental. A sister species, Butter-and-eggs (L. vulgaris) is a similar plant but with narrow leaves and a distinctive orange patch on the lower lip of the flower. Toadflax have a long history of herbal use for liver and other disorders. "Linaria" is for the resemblance of the leaves to those of Linum (flax). "Dalmatica" refers to the Dalmatian coast of the Balkan Peninsula. Although pretty, both plants are aggressive, weedy species.


©2014 Yan Soucie, Steve Sullivan

Description

Introduced , 1-4' tall, with distinctive snapdragon-like pale to bright yellow flowers arranged in dense cluster atop stem. Lower lip has fuzzy patch of orange to white hairs, and flower extends backward in a slender straight spur. Leaves are , widely , the base of the leaf the stem, and gray-green to bright green in color.

Field Marks

Yellow, snap-dragon flowers with broad leaves that clasp the stem.

© Al Schneider

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A clasping leaf suroundes part of all of the stem.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.