Skip to content.
Français

Some features of this website require Javascript to be enabled for best usability. Please enable Javascript to run.

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

DWARF SNAPDRAGON

Scientific Name: Chaenorrhinum minus (L) Lange,

Other Names: chénorhinum mineur, Dwarf toadflax, Small toadflax, linaire mineure, Linaria minor L.

Family: Figwort or Snapdragon Family (Scrophulariaceae)

General Description: Annual, reproducing only by seed.

Habitat: Dwarf snapdragon occurs throughout Ontario usually in cinders and gravel along railway rights-of-way but occasionally in other waste places, cultivated fields and gardens, and has recently become a common weed in many strawberry fields.

Seedlings

  • Tiny, seedling with stem
  • Leaves are heart-shaped

Stems

  • Erect
  • 10- 40 cm (4- 16 in.) high
  • Usually much branched throughout
  • Glandular-hairy

Leaves

  • Alternate (1 per node)
  • Sometimes in tufts along the stem
  • Short and very narrow

Flowers

  • Flower stalks slender, 1- 2 cm (2/5- 4/5 in.) long from leaf axils throughout the plant
  • Small (6- 8 mm, ¼- 1/3 in. long)
  • Light blue to purplish with a yellow spot
  • Seedpods nearly spherical, about 5 mm (1/5 in.) in diameter
  • Flowers from June to September

Often Confused With
Toadflax (Snapdragon is distinguished by its small, erect, much-branched, somewhat sticky hairs stems with short, narrow leaves often in tufts, and very small, light blue to purplish snapdragon-like flowers.)

Dwarf snapdragon seedpods

Dwarf snapdragon in strawberries

Dwarf snapdragon seedlings

Dwarf snapdragonClick to enlarge.