WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

To 24-inches tall with smooth, slender stems, this plant is topped with a spike-like array of light-blue flowers. Note the irregularly-shaped flower’s erect upper lip, drooping lower lip and long, curved rear spur.

FLOWER: February–June. Each 1/2–5/8-inch long (12–16 mm) flower has an erect, 2-lobed upper lip and a drooping, 3-lobed lower lip with scattered, small hairs in the throat. The center of the lower petal has a slight upward bulge. The rear of the flower forms a curved spur reaching 3/8-inch long (10 mm) that contains nectar for pollinators.

LEAVES: Opposite near the base and alternate up on the stem. Mid-stem, linear blades average 3/4–1 1/2-inches long (20–38 mm) and are hairless and sessile (without stems).

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly, loamy soils, drainages, roadsides; shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and scrub, foothills.

ELEVATION: 3,800–6,400 feet.

RANGE: CA, AZ, NM, OK, TX; scattered in southern states and west of Mississippi River.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The introduced invasive Yellow Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris, in central and northern NM, has similarly shaped but yellow flowers.

NM COUNTIES: Southern and ne NM, scattered elsewhere in low-elevation arid habitats: Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Luna, Otero, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Union.