SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 



379 



pale yellow, the upper one brownish on the back ; stamens of 

 unequal lengths, the filaments bearded with purple hairs. Cap- 

 sules globose, longer than the calyx, many-seeded. (Fig. 263.) 

 Means of control the same as for Common Mullein. 



YELLOW TOAD-FLAX 



Linaria vulgaris, Hill 



Other English names: Butter-and-Eggs. Wild Snap-dragon, Flax- 

 weed, Impudent Lawyer, Ranstead. 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 



Time of bloom: June to October. 



Seed-time: August to November. 



Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and 

 Nebraska. 



Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



A weed very difficult to suppress because of its 

 deep, running rootstocks. Cattle dislike its taste 

 and odor, and in pastures it is left to reproduce 

 itself unmolested ; seed-bearing plants are fre- 

 quently transported in baled hay. 



Stems several from the same root, erect, smooth, 

 very slender, one to two feet tall, simple or with 

 few branches. Leaves alternate, pale green, linear, 

 entire, pointed at both ends, sessile, crowded on 

 the stalks. Flowers in dense racemes, the earliest 

 clusters terminal, later bloom springing from the 

 axils ; corolla yellow, irregular, about an inch long, 

 spurred at the base, two-lipped, the upper one 

 two-lobed and erect, the throat nearly closed and 

 yellow-bearded within, the bulging palate deep 

 orange above spreading lower lips ; stamens four, 

 in unequal pairs, included ; the flowers have an 

 unpleasant odor. Capsules two celled, ovoid, each 

 containing fifty to sixty flattened, rough, wing- 

 margined seeds. (Fig. 264.) 



Means of control 



FIG. 264. 

 Yellow Toad-flax 

 (Linaria vulga- 

 ris). X i. 



If the area infested is small, use one of the strong herbicides, 

 such as hot brine or caustic soda, which will kill all other plant 



