Family

Figwort.

Colour

Pale blue, or purple.

Odour

Scentless.

Range

General.

Time Of Bloom

July-October.

Flowers: growing in a terminal raceme. Calyx: five-parted. Corolla: two lipped, closed in the throat, extending backward into a long pointed spur.

Stamens: four, in pairs of unequal length. Pistil: one. Leaves: those of the base, tufted; those of the stem, alternate; linear; sessile; parallel-veined. Stem: erect; leafy; smooth.

Along the sandy roadsides the blue linaria seems to be perfectly at home and happy. It comes early in the summer and remains until late in the autumn; enjoying the sunshine, the singing of the birds and the fun-loving urchins that know it so well. It can hardly be said to resemble very closely its near relative, the sprightly butter-and-eggs.

L. repens, pale-blue toad-flax, is a small species that is found about the Atlantic seaports. It has come to us from Europe.