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Dwarf Snapdragon

Dwarf Snapdragon

Chaenorhinum minus

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How common: Common

Alien species

Dwarf Snapdragon is a tiny annual relative of the garden snapdragon. It has small pale violet flowers and thin leaves, and often appears on disturbed ground in towns such as rail yards, ports and pavements. Native to Europe and nearby areas, it has spread to many other regions.

Did you know?

  • The seed pod opens with two round holes, shaking seeds out like a pepper shaker.
  • It can grow in harsh places, even in gravel, cracks of stone steps and gaps in paving.

About the species

Identification

Small annual, 5–20 cm tall, with an upright, slightly rough stem. Leaves are narrow to long oval with blunt tips. Tiny snapdragon-like flowers sit one by one where the leaves meet the stem; they are pale blue‑violet, about 8 mm, with an open throat and a short backward spur (a little tube at the back). The fruit is a small round pod that releases seeds through two holes. Told from taller yellow toadflax and garden snapdragons by its very small size, pale flowers, and flowers borne singly rather than in a tight top cluster. Flowers in Finland mainly in early summer, June–July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Dry, open, disturbed ground: railways, roadsides, loading areas, waste ground and other urban sites. Fairly common in cities of southern and central Finland; more occasional further north.

Sources

Photo: Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microrrhinum minus sl4.jpg

Text: Pinkka: IPS-177 Fennoscandian flora - Centaurea-Empetrum, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39587

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikkukissankita

See also