Linaria vulgaris, Antirrhinum linaria, SE: Gulsporre,
DE: Gewöhnliches Leinkraut, NL: Vlasbekje,
UK: Yellow toadflax, Butter and eggs

Scientific name:  Linaria vulgaris Mill.
Synonym name:  Antirrhinum linaria L.
Swedish name:  Gulsporre, flugblomster, flugblommor, gulsporreblomma, sporreblomma
German name:   Gewöhnliches Leinkraut
Nederlandse naam:  Vlasbekje
English name:   Yellow toadflax, Butter and eggs, wild snapdragon, common toadflax, ramsted, flaxweed, Jacob's ladder
Family:   Scrophulariaceae, Figwort family, Lejongapsväxter

Native Plants of Sweden

Life form:  Perennial herb
Stems:  Height 15- 100 cm; erect, hairless, generally un-branched; mature plants may have 1 to 25 stems
Leaves:  Alternate but may appear opposite on the lower stem due to crowding; narrowly lanceolate; gray-green, soft, very numerous
Flowers:  bright yellow, alternately in dense spikes at the ends of stems and have a long spur extending from the base that is usually as long as the flower itself – in all, 2 to 3.5 cm long.
Flowering Period:  July, August, September
Fruits:  Capsule, elongated ovoid; seeds are winged, disk-shaped, dark brown to black
Habitat:  Roadsides
Distribution:  Throughout the country

Linaria vulgaris, Antirrhinum linaria, Gulsporre, Gewöhnliches Leinkraut, Vlasbekje, Yellow toadflax, Butter and eggs


Derivation of the botanical name:
Linaria, Greek linum, flax; referring to the flax-like leaves.
vulgaris, common.
Antirrhinum, from Greek anti (αντι), "like," and rhis (ριϛ, ινοϛ), "nose", inus (-ινοϛ), probably referring to the nose-like capsule in its mature state.
  • The standard author abbreviation Mill. is used to indicate Philip Miller (1691 – 1771), a Scottish botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
Flowers are identical to Linaria dalmatica (L.) Miller (Dalmatian toadflax), but leaf shape differs between the two plants.

Flowers in Sweden (Vilda blommor i Sverige)



Linaria vulgaris, Antirrhinum linaria, Gulsporre, Gewöhnliches Leinkraut, Vlasbekje, Yellow toadflax, Butter and eggs