Toadflax

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Toadflax inflorescence

Toadflax

Toadflax flowers

Toadflax

Toadflax

Toadflax

Toadflax

Morphology

Stem

Flowering stems erect or ascending, 1 to several, simple or branched above, slender, glabrous; often also rosette of short prostrate stems.

Leaves

Of 2 types, mostly glabrous; leaves of short, basal stems opposite or in 3s, oblanceolate to spatulate, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, about 1/10 inch wide; leaves of flowering stems alternate, sessile, linear or linear-lanceolate, 1/2 to 1 inch long, less than 1/10 inch wide; margins entire.

Inflorescence

Racemes, slender, terminal.

Flower

Short-stalked; calyces 5-parted, segments lanceolate, nearly equal; corollas 2-lipped; 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, pale blue-violet or bluish purple; upper lip with 2 erect lobes, longer lower lip with 3 spreading lobes; spurs curved, threadlike, additional 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.

Fruit

Capsules, nearly spherical; seeds numerous, angular, covered with tiny bumps.

Ecology

Habitat

Dry thickets, open ground, roadsides, and old fields, on sandy soils.

Distribution

Principally east 1/2, more frequently southward in Kansas.

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.