SCROPHULARIACEAE 



FIGWORT FAMILY 



YELLOW TOADFLAX. BUTTER AND EGGS 



Linaria 'vulgaris Hill 



The Yellow Toadflax is another of those immigrants which 

 have become common in this country. It is a native of Europe 

 and Asia and really has very pretty flowers, but is usually ignored 

 as a weed. Perennial by short under- 

 ground stems, it may persist in colonies 

 for many years. It grows in waste places 

 from Newfoundland to Oregon and 

 south from Virginia to New Mexico. 

 Other names are Brideweed, Flaxweed, 

 and Eggs and Bacon. 



The smooth slender stems, 1-3 feet 

 high, are simple or few branched and 

 slightly downy near the inflorescence. 

 They bear very many alternate leaves 

 which are linear, sessile, entire and 

 smooth, acute at both ends and up to 

 I y4 inches long. 



The plant usually begins blooming in 

 June and continues until stopped by 

 freezing weather. The large flowers, in 

 dense terminal panicles, may be i >^ 

 inches long. They are light yellow but 

 the long awl-shaped spur at the base is a 

 little darker and the palate that closes 

 the throat of the corolla is orange. 

 The oblong segments of the calyx are 

 acutish and about one-eighth of an inch 

 long. Pedicels are about one-quarter 

 inch long. The 4 stamens, with thread- 

 like filaments, are in pairs beneath the 

 upper lip. The middle lobe of the lower 

 lip is shorter than the other two. The 2- 

 celled superior ovary is topped by a 



lengthy slender style, and it ripens into a capsule containing in- 

 numerable rough winged seeds. This plant is known practically 

 throughout Illinois in all counties above a line from Hardin 

 to St. Clair. 



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