Snapdragon

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About Snapdragon
Wikipedia Article About Snapdragon on Wikipedia

Antirrhinum is a genus of plants that used to be the family Scrophulariaceae, more commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when properly squeezed (thus the 'snap'). Study of DNA sequences have led to the inclusion of Antirrhinum in a vastly enlarged family Plantaginaceae.

The taxonomy of this genus is disputed at present. At one extreme, ITIS recognises only the Old World species of sect. Antirrhinum in the genus, listing only the Garden Snapdragon A. majus (the only species in the section naturalised in North America). At the other, Thompson (1988) treated 36 species in the genus; many modern botanists accept this circumscription. New species also continue to be discovered (see e.g. Romo et al., 1995).