linaria

[ lahy-nair-ee-uh, li- ]

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Linaria, of the figwort family, especially of the cultivated species, as L. maroccana or L. aeruginea, having slender clusters of spurred flowers in a variety of colors.

Word History and Origins

Origin of linaria¹

1570–80; < New Latin; Medieval Latin līnāria toadflax, equivalent to Latin līn ( um ) flax + -āria -ary

Example Sentences

They are mostly annuals, such as the little Toadflax (Linaria minor), which can just manage to exist under those conditions.

From Project Gutenberg

All my readers probably know the wild yellow toad-flax (Linaria vulgaris), a plant very common in our fields and hedges.

From Project Gutenberg

My father had raised two beds of Linaria vulgaris—one set being the offspring of cross- and the other of self-fertilisation.

From Project Gutenberg

Centaurea spinescens, Linaria, Joussa, and one or two Astragali.

From Project Gutenberg

The third species is Linaria purpurea, not strictly a British plant, but one established in some places on old walls.

From Project Gutenberg