Who’s silly idea was it to call this plant Butter and Eggs; anyway?  It’s NOT edible; why give it an edible name?  Perhaps if Toadflax actually needed another name, we could come up with something more appropriate; like, maybe, Hock-a-lougie.  It looks as much like phlegm as butter and eggs.  And, then, no one would associate the Lougie plant with the possibility of eating!

Linaria vulgaris, Common Toadflax, Yellow Toadflax, or Butter-and-eggs is a  1 – 2 ft.  perenial; with erect to leaning stems and thin, almost glossy blue-greenish leaves.

The snapdragonish, pale yellow (except for the yellow-orangey lower lip), flowers form dense , lovely clusters; seen along roadsides, everywhere!

 

I searched Wikipedia for Toadflax and found that Butter and Eggs isn’t the only silly name assigned to this plant!  “Because this plant grows as a weed, it has acquired a large number of local colloquial names, including brideweed, bridewort, butter and eggs (but see Lotus corniculatus), butter haycocks, bread and butter, bunny haycocks, bunny mouths, calf’s snout, Continental weed, dead men’s bones, devil’s flax, devil’s flower, doggies, dragon bushes, eggs and bacon (but see Lotus corniculatus), eggs and butter, false flax, flaxweed, fluellen (but see Kickxia), gallweed, gallwort, impudent lawyer, Jacob’s ladder (but see Polemonium), lion’s mouth, monkey flower (but see Mimulus), North American ramsted, rabbit flower, rancid, ransted, snapdragon (but see Antirrhinum), wild flax, wild snapdragon, wild tobacco (but see Nicotiana), yellow rod, yellow toadflax.^{[6]“” (1)}

And, that Toadflax has some medicinal value:  “Despite its reputation as a weed, like the dandelion, this plant has also been used in folk medicine for a variety of ailments. A tea made from the leaves was taken as a laxative and strong diuretic as well as for jaundice, dropsy, and enteritis with drowsiness. For skin diseases and piles, either a leaf tea or an ointment made from the flowers was used. In addition, a tea made in milk instead of water has been used as an insecticide. It is confirmed to have diuretic and fever-reducing properties.^{[9]”   (1)}

None of the Herbals I have at home (see suggested reading) lists Toadflax.  And none of the edible plant guides list it, either.  Therefore Hock-a-Lougie plant goes into the “Unavoidable” file!

Just click on any photo to enlarge, for greater detail.

Thanx for stopping by.  See you soon.

For more toadflax info:

• (1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linaria_vulgaris
• Species Profile- Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Yellow Toadflax.