Chaenorhinum origanifolium - Dwarf Snapdragon

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Lamiales - Family: Plantaginaceae

Often referred to as Dwarf Snapdragon - a name that is also applied to several other members of the Plantaginaceae family - these lovely alpine toadflax-like alpine wildflowers hug the ground on Rocky slopes.

Description

This perennial alpine plant forms ground-hugging cushions typically 10 to 20cm tall. The rounded leaves are dark green on the upper surface and green sometimes tinged with puple on the undersides. Flowers, which are lavender or pale purple with whitish or yellowish patterned centres, are typically 30mm long and 25mm across.

Distribution

Chaenorhinum origanifolium is native to mountainous regions of southern Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It is also recorded from parts of northwestern Africa.

The specimens shown on this page were growing on limestone scree and in rock crevices in Slovenia at approximately 600 metres above sea level.

Habitat and Blooming Times

Chaenorhinum origanifolium is found in mountainous terrain mainly on dry alkaline shallow soils, and in particular in crevices on steep or even sheer rock faces.

Etymology

Chaenorhinum, the genus name, comes from the Greek 'Chaino,' meanng to gape, and 'rhis' meaning snout - a reference to the throat of the corolla, which is much more open (gaping) than the throats of, for example, its close relatives the snapdragons and toadflaxes. The specific epithet origanifolium means with leaves like those of the herb Oregano.

The photographs shown on this page were taken in Slovenia during early June.

---

---

Please Help Us: If you have found this information interesting and useful, please consider helping to keep First Nature online by making a small donation towards the web hosting and internet costs.

Any donations over and above the essential running costs will help support the conservation work of Plantlife, the Rivers Trust and charitable botanic gardens - as do author royalties and publisher proceeds from books by Pat and Sue.