Dwarf Snapdragon
Scientific Name: Chaenorrhinum minus (L) Lange,
Other Names: chénorhinum mineur, Dwarf toadflax, Small toadflax, linaire mineure, Linaria minor L.
Family: Figwort or Snapdragon Family (Scrophulariaceae)
General Description: Annual, reproducing only by seed.
Habitat: Dwarf snapdragon occurs throughout Ontario usually in cinders and gravel along railway rights-of-way but occasionally in other waste places, cultivated fields and gardens, and has recently become a common weed in many strawberry fields.
Seedlings
- Tiny, seedling with stem
- Leaves are heart-shaped
Stems
- Erect
- 10- 40 cm (4- 16 in.) high
- Usually much branched throughout
- Glandular-hairy
Leaves
Flowers
- Flower stalks slender, 1- 2 cm (2/5- 4/5 in.) long from leaf axils throughout the plant
- Small (6- 8 mm, ¼- 1/3 in. long)
- Light blue to purplish with a yellow spot
- Seedpods nearly spherical, about 5 mm (1/5 in.) in diameter
- Flowers from June to September
Often Confused With
Toadflax (Snapdragon is distinguished by its small, erect, much-branched, somewhat sticky hairs stems with short, narrow leaves often in tufts, and very small, light blue to purplish snapdragon-like flowers.)