Andalucia Life Fauna and Flora, Flowers of Andalucia Southern Spain

April 2004, Snapdragon, Antirrhinum tortuosum

The cultivated snapdragon is a common garden biennial in the UK. The original wild plant, from which cultivars were developed, grows around the Mediterranean and North Africa as a perennial. This specimen was on the roadside between Casares and Gaucin in mid March. Flowering early due to the mild winter it normally blooms from April to late summer. It favours rocky banks and crevices where it will grow into a 1.5 metre small bush. This sub species is peculiar to our part of Spain and likes neutral soil. A. majus is found further north and A. cirrhegerum in sandy soil on the coast. The only difference between the three is in the leaves.

The flower spike has individual flowers of varying shades of pink with a white or yellow boss at the entrance to the throat. The flowers open in sequence from the bottom of the spike and present a display that would not disgrace many gardens.