Texas Toadflax (Linaria texana)

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Nuttallanthus texanus
Apparently Secure
Apparently Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Nuttallanthus
Species:
N. texanus
Binomial name
Nuttallanthus texanus
(Scheele) D.A.Sutton
Synonyms[2]
  • Linaria canadensis var. texana
  • Linaria texana

Nuttallanthus texanus, the Texas toadflax, is an annual to biennial plant in the veronica family found across much of the western United States. It can often be seen in patches along roadsides.[3] Its inflorescence is raceme.[4]

Taxonomy

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Nuttallanthus texanus was scientifically described in 1848 by George Heinrich Adolf Scheele who named it Linaria texana.[5] The botanist Francis W. Pennell proposed reclassified it as a subspecies of Linaria canadensis in 1922,[5] but together with three other species it was placed in the new genus Nuttallanthus by David A. Sutton in 1988.[6] This is the accepted name according to World Plants,[5] World Flora Online,[2] The Jepson Manual,[4] and the Database of Vascular Plants of Canada,[7] however Plants of the World Online lists Linaria texana as the accepted name.[8]

Names

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The species name, texanus, is Botanical Latin meaning 'pertaining to Texas'. The common name Texas toadflax refers to it growing naturally in Texas and toadflax is for the resemblance of leaves to the narrow ones of true flax while the reference to toads is thought to come from mistaking the Latin bubonium in the description of a plant used in traditional medicine to treat groin swelling (buboes) for bufonis meaning toad.[9] The species is also known as blue toadflax,[4] but this name is also frequently used for Nuttallanthus canadensis.[10]

References

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Citations

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Sources

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Books

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  • Bessette, Alan (2000). Wildflowers of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in Color (First ed.). Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-2803-3. OCLC 42310052. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  • Holloway, Joel Ellis (2005). Neill, Amanda (ed.). A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains. Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press. ISBN 978-0-87565-309-9. OCLC 61451157.
  • Spellenberg, Richard (2012). Sonoran Desert Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Common Species of the Sonoran Desert, Including Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Saguaro National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ironwood Forest National Monument, and the Sonoran Portion of Joshua Tree National Park (Second ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-0-7627-7368-8. OCLC 756579044.

Web sources

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References

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About

Widespread in the U.S.

Synonyms

  • Nuttallanthus texanus

Relationships

No relationships added.