Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Agalinis tenuifolia (Vahl) Raf.

Family: Orobanchaceae

common agalinis, common false foxglove

[Agalinis besseyana (Britton) Britton, more...]

Paul Drobot

University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Agalinis: "remarkable flax" in botanical Latin.
Plants: erect, annual, 8"-24" tall forb, dark green, blackish when dry, many erect branches; stems smooth
Leaves: linear to 1/4" wide
Flowers: purple to pink, 5-parted, 1/3"-1/2" long, smooth inside, upper lobe arched forward over the 4 stamens the lower stamens longer; inflorescence a cluster (raceme) of flowers on 1/3"-1" long stalks; blooms Aug.-Sept.
Fruits: roundish capsule, fruit drawing

Habitat: moist; shores, meadows; in marly, peaty, sandy soil
Conservation Status: Native

This is our most widespread and common species, found in an array of usually moist, open habitats including wet sand or mudflats, lakeshores and pond margins, sedge meadows, marsh borders, wet and mesic prairies and prairie swales, wet meadows, fens, grassy or gravelly riverbanks, sloughs, open lowland forests; also on damp sandstone cliffs. Seems to benefit from some disturbance and often thrives along moist roadsides, in ditches, fields, gravel pits, and along railroad tracks and trails.

This species can be quite large and well-branched or very small. The adaxial corolla lobes are slightly smaller than the abaxial lobes, the former being curled over the anthers giving the corolla a hooded appearance; this is our only species that exhibits this trait.

Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 6, Wetland Indicator = FACW USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora: by T.S. Cochrane & H.H. Iltis: habitat, distribution infomation / flowering and fruiting times