Common Toadflax - Linaria vulgaris

Description

Medium to tall tufted plant, with a creeping, rhizomatous root stock; stems numerous, erect, hairless or glandular hairy above, usually branched in the upper half. Leaves linear to narrowly elliptical, 1 veined, crowded, mostly alternate. Flowers bright to pale yellow, 25 to 33 mm, in a long dense raceme, the spur 10 to 13 mm long, straight.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Grassy habitats and waste ground, road verges and embankments.

When to see it

July to October.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent in Britain northwards as far as southern Scotland.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 200 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Butter and Eggs, Common Toadflax
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Lamiales
Family:
Plantaginaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
119
First record:
05/08/2007 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
07/10/2023 (Alton, John)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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