Blue Toadflax

(Nuttallanthus canadensis)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis [L.] D.A. Sutton)

Identification: Flowers violet with a white, two humped center. Flower with 2 erect upper petal lobes and 3 large lower petal lobes. Rear margin of flower with a long spur. Flowers arranged in an elongate, apical flower spike. Stem smooth. Leaves elongate, very narrow, shining. Plant 4 inches to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout eastern North America. Also occurs along the Pacific Coast.

Habitat: Blue Toadflax is found on dry sandy or acid soils.

Flowering period: April to September.

Similar Species: The violet flower with 2 central white humps, and the thin, small, shining leaves are distinctive.

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