Perennial herb. Leaves linear, to 5 cm or so long, 2-4 mm wide, in whorls at the base, alternate further up, waxy-blue, on erect branching stems to about 0.5 m tall. Flower clusters narrow and elongated with close-set flowers. Flowers about 1 cm long, violet to purple or sometimes pinkish.
Italy to Sicily
Occasionally offered are: L. triornithophora (L.) Willd., Three Birds Flying, a summer-flowering perennial from SW Europe which can grow to over 1m tall, with leaves in 3s and lavender flowers striped with purple, with a yellow throat constriction; and L. vulgaris Mill., Common Toadflax (Butter and Eggs), from Europe, which grows 0.5-1 m tall, with alternate more or less linear leaves and yellow flowers with a brownish constriction and distinct spur.
Source: (2002). Scrophulariaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Linaria purpurea 'Canon J. Went'
Plant tall with small pale pink flowers.
Linaria purpurea 'Springside White'
Leaves greyish. Flowers white.