Linaria maroccana – Moroccan Toadflax

Linaria maroccana - Moroccan Toadflax, Baby Snapdragon, Annual Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon (purple flowers)

Linaria maroccana - Moroccan Toadflax, Baby Snapdragon, Annual Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon (white flowers)

Linaria maroccana - Moroccan Toadflax, Baby Snapdragon, Annual Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon (pink flowers)

Linaria maroccana - Moroccan Toadflax, Baby Snapdragon, Annual Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Linaria maroccana

Common Names: Moroccan Toadflax, Baby Snapdragon, Annual Toadflax, Spurred Snapdragon

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized ornamental plant is native to Morocco.

Habitat: Desert. This colorful wildflower is commonly included in desert wildflower seed mixes and it has become naturalized along roadsides and other disturbed areas.

Flower Color: Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Lavender-blue, Purple, White

Flowering Season: Spring. This wildflower prefers cool weather.

Height: Up to 18 inches (46 cm) tall

Description: The flowers are clustered at the stem tips and have 5 lobes with a 2-lobed upper lip and a 3-lobed lower lip, an inflated yellow, white, and/or red-patterned throat, and a long, straight, inflated spur projecting behind the flower. The flowers are followed by tiny, spherical seed capsules. The leaves are green, narrowly linear in shape, and only up to 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) long. The stems are slender, erect, branched, and green to reddish in color.

Special Characteristics

Hummingbird Flower – The flowers sometimes attract hummingbirds.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Linaria Mill. – toadflax
Species: Linaria maroccana Hook. f. – Moroccan toadflax

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map