Linaria pinifolia

Pine needle toad flax

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Pine needle toad flax is a naturalized annual found in the southern Coast Ranges in disturbed areas at elevations below 305 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces red-violet flowers with a swelling yellow throat and purple veins, approximately 15 to 18 millimeters long. Growing with tall stems 80 to 100 centimeters high and decumbent non-flowering shoots, it has a distinctive branching habit. Its leaves are linear to elliptic, measuring 20 to 40 millimeters long, with smaller leaves on non-flowering stems. The fruit is approximately 4 millimeters long, containing small pyramid-shaped seeds with distinct ridges.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: May-Jun

Elevation: < 305 m

Bioregions: SCoRO

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.