Linum australe |
Linum compactum |
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southern flax |
Wyoming flax |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, 10–50 cm, puberulent near base, otherwise glabrous. | Herbs, annual, 5–30 cm, glabrous throughout or puberulent at base. | ||||
Stems | stiffly ascending-spreading, few to many-branched. |
erect, branched from base and throughout, bushy. |
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Leaves | alternate, appressed; stipular glands present at basal nodes or throughout; blade linear, 7–20 × 0.5–l.9 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex aristate. |
alternate, spreading to ascending; stipular glands absent; blade linear, 10–28 × 1–1.5 mm, margins entire or sparsely toothed on distal leaves, not ciliate, apex acute. |
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Inflorescences | racemes. |
dense panicles. |
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Pedicels | 3–15 mm. |
2–7 mm. |
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Flowers | sepals deciduous, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 4–7 mm, margins scarious, delicately glandular-toothed, apex aristate; petals yellow to yellow-orange throughout, oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, 5–10 mm; stamens (3–)4–7 mm; anthers 0.4–1 mm; staminodia present or absent; styles connate nearly to apex, 2–5.7 mm; stigmas green, capitate. |
sepals tardily deciduous, lanceolate, 5–9 mm, margins narrowly scarious, conspicuously glandular-toothed, apex acute to acuminate; petals yellow, obovate, 6–11 mm; stamens 4–6 mm; anthers 0.4–0.8 mm; staminodia absent; styles connate nearly to apex, 2.5–4 mm; stigmas capitate. |
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Capsules | ovoid, 3.2–4.5 × 2.5–3.4 mm, relatively thick-walled and with characteristic thickened areas at apex in region of true septa, apex obtuse, dehiscing into 5, 2-seeded segments, segments persistent on plant, false septa complete, proximal part membranaceous, not terminating in loose fringe, distal part cartilaginous, margins ciliate. |
ovoid, 3.5–4.4 × 2.7–3.5 mm, apex obtuse, dehiscing into 5, 2-seeded segments, segments persistent on plant, false septa complete, proximal part membranaceous, not terminating in loose fringe, distal part cartilaginous, margins not or only minutely ciliate. |
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Seeds | 2–3 × 0.8–1.3 mm. |
2.6–3.1 × 1–1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 30. |
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Linum australe |
Linum compactum |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug(–Sep). | |||||
Habitat | Sagebrush grasslands, ponderosa pine woodlands, meadows, prairies, rocky outcrops. | |||||
Elevation | 600–1800 m. (2000–5900 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; MT; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; AB; Mexico
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CO; IL; KS; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY; AB; SK
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). The stems of Linum australe are strongly ridged-sulcate to ribbed, especially distally. The corollas are broadly funnelform; petals are yellow to yellow-orange; stamens and styles are yellow; stigmas are bright to olive green. Staminodia in L. australe are short, deltoid, usually two between each pair of stamens, sometimes one or absent. Linum australe is the only species in its range that is glabrous beyond the base and has connate styles. It differs from L. aristatum, which it overlaps in the southern part of the range, in being much more highly branched and having more slender capsules. C. M. Rogers (1984) noted a compact form found in sunny areas from Wyoming northward that warrants more study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Linum compactum is generally low-growing, much branched, and bushy; its flowers are smaller than those of L. rigidum. Linum compactum is found on the high plains in open areas. C. M. Rogers (1984) suggested that it might be closely related to L. australe, which differs in being more slender with more open habit and of pine forest habitats. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 390. | FNA vol. 12, p. 390. | ||||
Parent taxa | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | L. rigidum var. compactum | |||||
Name authority | A. Heller: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 627. (1898) | A. Nelson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 31: 241. (1904) | ||||
Web links |