How was yellow toadflax introduced?
Yellow toadflax was intentionally introduced in North America but has escaped cultivation as an ornamental, a source of fabric dye, and as a folk remedy to become an opportunistic invader associated with natural and anthropogenic disturbances throughout the continental United States, in all Canadian provinces and …
When was the yellow toadflax introduced?
Yellow toadflax was introduced to New England in the late 1600s as an ornamental and medicinal plant and continues to be sold in nurseries and seed catalogs.
What is yellow toadflax used for?
People take yellow toadflax for digestive and urinary tract disorders. It is also used to reduce swelling, relieve water retention by increasing urine production (as a diuretic), and cause sweating. Some people apply yellow toadflax directly to the skin for hemorrhoids, wounds, skin rashes, and foot ulcers.
Is yellow toadflax an invasive plant?
Dalmatian toadflax and yellow toadflax are invasive plants that have been introduced into the southwestern United States. Both species are listed in New Mexico as noxious weeds; however, only Dalmatian toadflax is listed in Arizona.
How does yellow toadflax impact the environment?
Specific effects evaluated in our assessment of environmental risks posed by yellow and Dalmatian toadflax included competitive displacement of other plant species, reservoirs of plant disease, animal and insect use, animal toxicity, human toxicity and allergenicity, erosion, and wildfire.
What is the meaning of toadflax?
toadflax. / (ˈtəʊdˌflæks) / noun. any of various scrophulariaceous plants of the genus Linaria, esp L. vulgaris, having narrow leaves and spurred two-lipped yellow-orange flowersAlso called: butter-and-eggs.
Why is toadflax called toadflax?
Of all the ludicrous names that people give to plants, surely the silliest is ‘toadflax’. Some people will suggest that no description could be more appropriate: its flowers resemble a toad’s face and its leaves a plant of flax.
Where is yellow toadflax native to?
Europe
Native to Europe, Yellow toadflax and Dalmatian toadflax can typically be found on roadsides, grasslands and in crop fields. Like many other weeds, toadflaxes have been introduced to North America as decorative plants but they are now having adverse effects.
Is toadflax poisonous to humans?
Toadflax-based folk medicine preparations are unlikely to be acutely toxic at the dosages traditionally administered to humans.
How did toadflax get its name?
The name Toadflax originated in the resemblance of the flower to little toads, there being also a resemblance between the mouth of the flower and the wide mouth of a toad. Coles says that the plant was called Toadflax, ‘because Toads will sometimes shelter themselves amongst the branches of it. ‘
What is another name for toadflax?
toadflax, (genus Linaria), also called spurred snapdragon, genus of nearly 150 herbaceous flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae native to the north temperate zone, particularly the Mediterranean region.
Where is the yellow toadflax from?
Native to Europe, Yellow toadflax and Dalmatian toadflax can typically be found on roadsides, grasslands and in crop fields. Like many other weeds, toadflaxes have been introduced to North America as decorative plants but they are now having adverse effects.
Is toadflax a wild flower?
Common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) is a pretty and colourful native wildflower that’s commonly seen growing on open sunny sites like verges, hedge banks and open meadows.