Linaria dalmatica (L.) Mill.

Dalmatian toadflax

Dalmatian toadflax is native to western Asia and south­eastern Europe. It was introduced to the United States late in the nineteenth century, and has spread across much of the western United States and Canada, invading rangelands, disturbed areas, and natural habitats. In North America, it is, at best, a weed, and at worst, an invasive.

Plants: These robust plants put down roots as deep as 6′ (1.8 m) underground. Stems are 1–3′ (40–100 cm) high, mostly erect, often branched, stout, and round.

Leaves: alternate, in pairs or triplets on the upper part of the stem, attached directly to the stem (sessile), often bent, with sharp tips and broad bases. Leaves are leathery, hairless (glabrous), with a waxy layer that makes them somewhat bluish in color, and veins roughly parallel to leaf edges. Lower leaves are ⅜–1¾″ (1–5 cm) long, and linear to lanceolate. Upper leaves are 1–2 ⨉ ⅜–1½″ (3–6 ⨉ 1–4 cm), lanceolate to broadly ovate.

Flowers: Flowers are yellow, light yellow, or rarely, white. They appear on spiked racemes, and resemble snapdragons or butter and eggs. Each flower is up to 2″ (5 cm) across, and has two “lips” and an orange hairy throat which offers nectar to pollinators.

Fruits: Seed capsules are round, less than ¼″ (7.6 mm) in diameter, each containing two seed-filled chambers. A single plant produces 500,000 seeds, and if that isn’t enough, its extensive root system allows it to survive fire and attempts at eradication.

Habitats: Roadsides, valleys, gravel pits, fields, pastures and disturbed soils.

Edibility: Poisonous. Toxic to livestock in large quan­tities.

Online References:

 

Linaria dalmatica description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.