What Is The Scientific Name For Snapdragons?

Snapdragons are called Antirrhinum majus, belonging to the Antirrhinum genus of plants, of the Plantaginaceae family (earlier the Scrophulariaceae family). The general opinion is that this genus needs further division to aid better classification, though researchers are divided as to the number of sections this genus needs to be divided into.

The popular name "snapdragon" is derived from the shape of the plant's flowers, which bears resemblance to a dragon's mouth that's opening and closing (hence "snap"). The flowers' colours range from white to yellow (and at times crimson).

These plants have different ranges as far as heights are concerned, some being as small as 1/2 a foot (7 inches) to as tall as about 4 feet (46 inches). Growers advise that they should be planted in soil that has minimum water-logging levels so that their roots don't rot.