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Plantaginaceae
Butter and Eggs
Linaria vulgaris
Cheerful resilience along the road.
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Genus
- Linaria
- Native to
- Europe, northern Asia
- Bloom season
- Summer, Fall
- Type
- herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–80 cm
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- any well-drained, often poor
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- perennial; spreads by rhizome
Did you know
- The flower is a perfect miniature of a snapdragon — same hinged 'jaws' that only strong bees can pry open.
- The two-tone yellow and deep orange palate gives it the cottage name 'butter and eggs'.
- Once introduced to North America, it became one of the most widespread roadside wildflowers on the continent.
- Linaria's tiny seeds bear a translucent papery wing and travel surprising distances on the wind.
- Pliny the Elder called it 'osyris' and noted that animals refuse to eat it — the plant is mildly toxic.
Color meanings
Yellow
homely good cheer
Orange
playful warmth