40 IVY-LEAVED TOADFLAX. 



There are six wild, besides many culti- 

 vated species of Toadflax. Some of them 

 have flowers no larger than those of our en- 

 graving, and one kind, the Least Toadflax, 

 {Linaria miiior) a rare plant, but found occa- 

 sionally on sandy fields, during June and July, 

 has much smaller flowers, of a purplish colour 

 tinged with yellow. But the plant of this genus 

 best known to those who notice wild flowers, 

 is the common yellow Toadflax {Linaria vul- 

 garis). It has blossoms shaped like those of 

 the ivy -leaved species, but much larger, and 

 forming a handsome and conspicuous cluster 

 on the upper part of the stem. They are of 

 a brimstone colour, marked at one part with 

 a deeper yellow tint; and the slender, sea- 

 green leaves are so like those of flax, that 

 that plant might easily, in an early stage of 

 its growth, be mistaken for it. It is abundant 

 in sandy corn-fields, and on hedge-banks, 

 where it attains a height of one or two feet, 

 and though beautiful, is one of the most 

 troublesome weeds to the agriculturist. Some 

 of the garden species of Toadflax are very 

 ornamental border flowers. 



