Linaria vulgaris Mill.
butter-and-eggs (butter and eggs; common toadflax)
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Scrophulariaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
butter-and-eggs (butter and eggs; common toadflax)
Plantaginaceae (Mare's-tail family)
(Previously in Scrophulariaceae)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Larry Halverson (Photo ID #71248)
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a long creeping rhizome; stems erect, 10-80 cm tall, sometimes branched above, smooth, glaucous; milky juice appearing when stems or leaves broken.
Leaves:
Alternate or the lowermost nearly opposite, numerous, unstalked, linear to narrowly lanceolate, smooth-margined, 2-10 cm long, smooth.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a long, terminal, smooth to minutely glandular-hairy, spike-like cluster of numerous short-stalked flowers, at first dense, elongating in age; corollas bright yellow with a central, orange-hairy patch at the throat, 20-35 mm long including the long straight basal spur, which is about as long as the rest of the corolla, 2-lipped, the upper lip 2-lobed, the lower lip 3-lobed; calyces 2-4 mm long, deeply 5-lobed, the lobes nearly distinct, lanceolate; stamens 4.
Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped to broadly cylindric, 5-10 mm long; seeds numerous, disc-shaped with broad wings, about 2 mm long, the central portion pimply.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Linaria vulgaris
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
966 | 445 | 1787 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
29 | 0 | 90 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
195 | 30 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
39 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(1), ESSF(4), IDF(12), MS(11), PP(7), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to dry fields, roadsides, waste places and open forests; frequent in BC south of 57degreeN, except absent from the Queen Charlotte Islands, rare northward; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Linaria linaria (L.) Karst.
Taxonomic Notes
Flowering dates for this species in our region range from June 14 to September 5, based on photo records in the E-Flora BC photo gallery and the Burke Museum photo gallery.
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