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ID please (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter andrew saunders
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Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
A species of Linaria (or other closely related genus, like Nuttallanthus, or Cymbalaria). A pic of an isolated plant separated from the grass to see the leaf shape would help :t:
andrew saunders
Active member
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Thanks! Best fit is Linaria pelisseriana (Jersey Toadflax); presumably introduced in a seed mix, as not native in Britain (apart from Channel Islands; also native W France, Mediterranean).
andrew saunders
Active member
Thank you
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
New one to me - how does it differ from L. pelisseriana?
Wonder whose bright idea it was to put this in wildflower seed mixes - were they thinking of 'assisted migration' to beat climate change, or just 'pretty flowers'?
According to Stace in the key for Linaria, L. maroccana splits in the first couplet by having spur longer than the rest of the corolla. In all other Linaria species encountered in the UK (which includes L. pelisseriana) the spur is shorter to nearly as long as corolla. I think the OP's plant seems pretty conclusive for L. maroccana now.
Stace gives the vernacular Annual Toadflax for this species. It certainly comes in a variety of colours. My local council use it in quite a few of their pollinator mixes & stray plants away from the obvious plantings are often encountered. I suspect it's a plant we'll see more of as more councils use these mix.
I do find it bizarre they talk of flowering meadows which contain so many exotics including Cosmos, Calendula, garish cornflowers, Californian Poppies, Phacellia, Linum grandiflorum & many others!
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Thanks! I was using the new Collins Flower Guide (Streeter et al.), which doesn't include L. maroccana, and cites L. pelisseriana as having spur almost as long as the rest of the corolla.
There's a whole field of Phacelia on my patch, several hectares of the stuff - no idea what the farmer is growing it for, but the local bees were certainly liking it! Pic from 4 weeks ago.
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