_Linaria canadensis_
_Flowers_--Pale blue to purple, small, irregular, in slender spikes.
Calyx 5 pointed;-corolla 2-lipped, with curved spur longer than its
tube, which is nearly closed by a white, 2-ridged projection or palate;
the upper lip erect, 2-lobed; lower lip 3-lobed, spreading. Stamens 4,
in pairs, in throat; 1 pistil. _Stem:_ Slender, weak, of sterile shoots,
prostrate; flowering stem, ascending or erect, 4 in. to 2 ft. high.
_Leaves:_ Small, linear, alternately scattered along stem, or oblong in
pairs or threes on leafy sterile shoots.
_Preferred Habitat_--Dry soil, gravel or sand.
_Flowering Season_--May-October.
_Distribution_--North, Central, and South Americas.
Wolf, rat, mouse, sow, cow, cat, snake, dragon, dog, toad, are among the
many animal prefixes to the names of flowers that the English country
people have given for various and often most interesting reasons. Just
as dog, used as a prefix, expresses an idea of worthlessness to them, so
toad suggests a spurious plant; the toadflax being made to bear what is
meant to be an odious name because before flowering it resembles the
true flax, _linum_, from which the generic title is derived.