Agalinis tenuifolia (Slender-leaved False Foxglove)

Plant Info
Also known as: Slender Gerardia, Slender Agalinis, Common False Foxglove
Genus:Agalinis
Family:Orobanchaceae (Broomrape)
Life cycle:annual
Origin:native
Habitat:sun; along shores, wet meadows, wet thickets
Bloom season:August - October
Plant height:1 to 2 feet
Wetland Indicator Status:GP: FAC MW: FACW NCNE: FACW
MN county distribution (click map to enlarge):Minnesota county distribution map
National distribution (click map to enlarge):National distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower: Flower shape: irregular Flower shape: tubular

[photo of flowers] Slender-stalked flowers along many branching stems, with 2 flowers per node and a leaf-like bract at the base of each stalk. Flowers are up to about ½ inch (1 to 1.5 cm) across with 5 pink to purple, finely hairy rounded lobes, fused into a shallow cup-like tube that is white with pinkish purple spots on the inside. The 2 upper lobes form a hood over the white stamens, with the lower 3 lobes slightly larger and more spreading.

[photo of calyx, flower stalks and leaf-like bracts] The calyx cupping the flower has 5 short, sharply triangular teeth. Flower stalks are hairless, ¼ to 1 inch (5 to 25 mm) long; bracts are hairless, linear and may be longer or shorter than the stalk. Each flower only lasts a day before falling off and only a few flowers per branch bloom at a time.

Leaves and stem: Leaf attachment: opposite Leaf type: simple

[photo of leaves] Leaves are opposite, lance-linear, 3/8 to 2¾ inches (1 to 7 cm) long, less than ¼ inch (.3 to 6 mm) wide, toothless, hairless, stalkless, with a prominent central vein, and may have smaller leaves in the axil (fascicles). Stems are much branched, angled and smooth. Leaves and stems can turn dark reddish purple in drier conditions.

Fruit: Fruit type: capsule/pod

[photo of fruit] Fruit is a globular capsule about ¼ inch (4 to 7 mm) across, containing many tan to brown seeds.

Notes:

Slender-leaved False Foxglove is a fine wispy plant that appears as a mist of flowers among the other grasses, sedges and forbs of the wet meadows it inhabits. As an annual it is not until later summer that its size fills in and stands out for the wanderer. It is easily confused with other Agalinis species as it can share the same habitat. The flowers of A. purpurea and A. paupercula have much shorter flower stalks, only ¼ inch long or less. While the rare Round-stem False Foxglove (A. gattingeri) has similarly long flower stalks, the leaf-like bract at the base of the stalk is consistently shorter than the stalk, flowers tend to be only 1 per node, and is found in dry habitats.

Agalinis spp. is partially parasitic, though it is unknown (to me) which species are host plants. This trait has moved the Agalinis genus from the Scrophulariaceae (Figwort) family to the Orobanchaceae (Broomrape) family.

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More photos

Photos by K. Chayka taken in Anoka, Ramsey and Winona counties. Photos by Peter M. Dziuk taken in Anoka County.

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Kenny h - Shooting Star Trail West of Rose Creek
on: 2017-08-18 10:01:31

YES...found in low moist area...prairie remnant...got an ID from my Facebook plant group...not on distribution map for Mower county...pretty, dainty little thing 13 inches tall

Posted by: Tim Johnson - Hennepin County
on: 2018-08-19 15:23:04

Seen blooming in pond-side meadow alongside Obedient Plant and sedges with in the flood plain of the Mississippi River in Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park.

Posted by: Anne Robinson - Rural Windom, Cottonwood County
on: 2018-08-25 13:31:57

Found three groupings on our farm near an old gravel pit. Airy and cheerful! We've never seen Them here before but it's been a super wet summer.

Posted by: Maureen Mulligan - Rock County
on: 2019-08-10 20:53:03

I'm not convinced this is the right spp. The fruits are not fully developed,but they don't look globose. They look more cylindrical. I'll check back once the fruit is more fully developed.

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