Ivy-Leaved Toadflax is a
non-native
perennial plant of the UK, typically found growing in walls and urban environments, to a mature height of up to 10cm.
Ivy-Leaved Toadflax is believed to have been accidentally introduced into the UK from Italy, before the seventeenth century, as a contaminant of packing material used to import sculptures. The plant grows easily from fragments, spreads rapidly, and its seed is distributed by birds. Ivy-Leaved Toadflax is called 'Ivy-Leaved' to describe the ivy-like lobed shape of its leaves. The name 'Toadflax' comes from the toad-like mouth formed from the two-lipped structure of its flowers and the plant's narrow, pointed, flax-like leaves.
Botanic classification and naming: Ivy-Leaved Toadflax is a member of the Plantain (Plantaginaceae) family. The genus name
'Cymbalaria' identifies the plant as a Toadflax with flowers borne singly and a creeping habit and its species name 'muralis' means 'wall-growing plant'.
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