Linaria amethystea

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Linaria amethystea: an easy guide

What it is
- Linaria amethystea is an annual flowering plant in the Plantaginaceae family.
- It is native to the Iberian Peninsula and nearby northwest Africa (Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara).

Where it grows
- It lives in temperate habitats in Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara.
- It can be found in fields, olive and fruit tree groves, roadsides, clearings, and sandy shore areas.

What it looks like
- A small plant with 1–25 blue-green stems, each 3–38 cm long.
- Leaves are blue-green and oblanceolate; lower leaves spread from a single point, upper leaves are alternating along the stem.
- The flowers are blue-amethyst, with a two-lipped corolla: the upper lip is long and narrow amethyst-blue, the lower lip is almost white with blue spots and has a long purple spur.
- The flowers are usually solitary or in small groups at the edge of the stem and make up about a quarter of the plant’s length.
- The species has subspecies with yellowish flowers.

Subspecies
- There are four subspecies:
- L. amethystea amethystea
- L. amethystea multipunctata
- L. amethystea ignescens
- L. amethystea broussonetii

Where each subspecies is found
- Portugal:
- L. a. multipunctata and L. a. amethystea
- L. a. multipunctata has three sub-populations in Coimbra, around Cadaval, and northern Lisbon; also small observations near Sintra and the Berlengas islands.
- L. a. amethystea is widespread in the same areas, plus roadsides, clearings, and sandy near-shore sites.
- Spain:
- L. a. amethystea in Meseta Central, Andalusia, Extremadura, and Galicia.
- L. a. ignescens is found in the southern tip near Cádiz.
- Morocco and Western Sahara:
- L. a. ignescens and L. a. broussonetii occur in these regions.

Conservation status
- The available information is limited, so it is listed as Data Deficient for assessment of risk.

Notes
- Linaria amethystea is part of the Plantaginaceae family and is adapted to a variety of temperate habitats across its range.