Minnesota Wildflowers


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Nuttallanthus canadensis (Canada Toadflax)

Plant Info
Also known as: Oldfield Toadflax, Blue Toadflax
Genus:Nuttallanthus
Family:Scrophulariaceae (Figwort)
Life cycle:annual, biennial
Origin:native
Habitat:sun; dry sandy soil, prairies, roadsides
Bloom season:May - July
Plant height:4 to 20 inches
USDA PLANTS database:Minnesota county distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower: irregular raceme

[photo of flowers] Flowers are in a spike-like raceme at the top of the stem that elongates up to 8 inches. Individual flowers average about 1/3 inch long, irregular with an upper lip divided into 2 erect rounded lobes, and a lower lip with 3 rounded lobes. Flower color is blue to blue-violet, with a 2-humped white spot at the base of the lower lip. There is usually 1 spike on a stem, but a plant may have multiple stems.

Leaves and stem: alternate opposite simple

[photo of leaves] Leaves are 1 to 1½ inches long and very narrow—not more than 1/8 inch wide, toothless, hairless, with pointed tips and no leaf stem. They are alternately attached and narrower on flowering stems, but oppositely attached and broader on the shorter non-flowering stems. The main stem is smooth and slender, green to reddish brown.

Notes:

With its small flowers and foliage, it is easy to miss unless there is a clump of plants together. 

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  • Prairie Restorations - Bringing people together with the land
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  • Out Back Nursery and Landscaping - Where Ecology and Horticulture Unite
  • Shooting Star Native Seeds - Native Prairie Grass and Wildflower Seeds

Map of native plant purveyors in the upper midwest

More photos

Photos taken at Wild River State Park, Center City, MN June 2008

Comments

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