Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Small Toadflax
Chaenorhinum minus
- Family: Figwort Family – Scrophulariaceae
- Growing form: Annual herb.
- Height: 5–20 cm (2–8 in.)
- Flower: Irregular (zygomorphic), ca. 8 mm (0.3 in.) long. Petals five, fused, corolla bilabiate with open throat and spurred, lilac with lower lip partly yellow. Sepals five, united. Stamens four. Pistil of two fused carpels. Flowers axillary, solitary.
- Leaves: Lower opposite, upper alternate. Short-stalked, blade linear or oblong to lanceolate, hairy.
- Fruit: A porous capsule.
- Habitat: Ports, industrial areas, depots, railway yards, gardens.
- Flowering time: June–July.
The small toadflax is an annual that requires neutral or alkaline substrate. In Finland it is an alien which has established in ports, industrial areas, railway embankments, and similar places showing it has spread with traffic. The species has also been grown in botanic gardens from where it has spread to surrounding areas.
