Common Snapdragon

<em>Antirrhinum majus</em>, commonly known as the Common Snapdragon, is a flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae, order Lamiales. It has not been formally evaluated on the IUCN Red List. Native to the Mediterranean region of southwestern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, the species has been widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and is now naturalized across much of the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. It is typically found in rocky slopes, walls, roadsides, disturbed ground, and cultivated garden beds across a broad range of temperate and subtropical climates. The bilaterally symmetrical, zygomorphic flowers display a distinctive "snap" mechanism when the lateral lobes are squeezed — a feature that gives the species its common name. Flower color ranges widely across cultivated varieties, including white, yellow, pink, red, and bicolored forms. As a flowering plant, <em>Antirrhinum majus</em> obtains energy via photosynthesis. It can behave as an annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial depending on climate and cultivation conditions. The species is pollinated primarily by bumblebees, which are strong enough to force open the closed flower. It is also used as a model organism in developmental biology and genetics research.