October 15, 2019

Prostrate Toadflax


It is not any longer in flower, the Prostrate Toadflax
(Linaria supina). At this time of the year it only has fruits. The little black seeds are just visible in the seedcases.





During summer luminous yellow flowers, for so small a plant rather large, attract insects, not only bees but also those that can get to the end of the long spur. Leaves are thin and linear.





 

Prostrate Toadflax is a mediterranean plant from dry and stony places like rocky slopes. In Dordogne we don't find it that often. Here and there on some limestone hillsides well exposed to the sun, but mostly in railroad stations between the rails, an artificial habitat that looks very much like the scree it prefers.




 

The flowers are richly adorned wit diverse protrusions, all kinds of yellow and red, and a variety of stripes.