Cymbalaria muralis

English: Ivy-leaved Toadflax - Kenilworth Ivy - Coliseum Ivy - Oxford Ivy
Nederlands: Muurleeuwenbek
Español: Hierba de campanario - Palomilla de muro - Picardia
Français: Cymbalaire des murs - Linaire cymbalaire - Ruine-de-Rome
Deutsch: Zimbelkraut - Zymbelkraut - Mauer-Zimbelkraut

Family: Plantaginaceae - Plantain family
Flowering time: May-September
Height: 15-60cm
Altitude: to 2000m
Colour: lilac to violet with a yellowish patch on the flower lip
Flower: 9-15mm long, solitary on long stalks at the base
Leaves: ivy-like, kidney-shaped to almost rounded, 5-9 lobed, long-stalked
Habitat: shady rocks and woods, old walls, generally on calcareous soils
Distribution: native of the Mediterranean region, naturalized over almost the whole of Europe
Synonym: Linaria cymbalaria - Antirrhinum cymbalaria





Notes: The Ivy-leaved Toadflax was introduced in central Europe as an ornamental and medicinal plant in the 16th century. It is pollinated by bees. Before fertilization each flower pushes itself out into the light and sun, standing erect, but when the seeds are mature, it bends downward, buries the capsule in the dark crannies between the stones on which it grows, the seeds being thus dispersed by direct action of the plant itself.

Related key words: Natuurtuin Zoetermeer, Fort Rammekens Ritthem