Linaria purpurea

Purple toad flax

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Purple toad flax is a naturalized perennial herb found in the northern Central Coast region in disturbed areas at elevations generally below 500 meters. Flowering from March to October, this plant produces lavender to purple flowers with a darker throat, approximately 15 to 18 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 30 to 70 centimeters tall emerging from a stout, woody rootstock, it has a robust and upright form. Its leaves are linear to oblanceolate, measuring 20 to 50 millimeters in length, creating a delicate green backdrop to the vibrant flowers. The fruit is small, approximately 3 millimeters long, with seeds about 1 millimeter in size and featuring a distinctive pyramid-like, ridged shape.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Mar-Oct

Elevation: generally < 500 m

Bioregions: n CCo

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