This is quite a common plant found in waste places, growing out of walls and cracks in pavement or concrete. It is an Italian introduction which has escaped from our gardens and taken to the UK like a native. As well as being purple in colour it tends to be a taller and more slender plant than L. vulgaris (Common Toadflax) which is yellow and I would normally expect it to flower in mid summer. This one, in full flower and with one stem in seed in May is unusually early.
Waste ground in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire 18th May 2005
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Added on 18th May 2005