The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

southern flax

desert flax, hairy flax, plains flax

Habit Herbs, annual, 10–50 cm, puberulent near base, otherwise glabrous. Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, 4–25 cm, densely and finely gray-puberulent throughout.
Stems

stiffly ascending-spreading, few to many-branched.

ascending, branched at base, herbaceous throughout.

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 or sometimes proximal leaves opposite, appressed-ascending;

stipular glands present (conspicuous);

blade linear, 7–20 × 0.6–1.5 mm, margins entire or distal leaves sparsely glandular-toothed, ciliate, apex acute; 1-nerved.

Inflorescences

racemes.

open panicles.

Pedicels

3–15 mm.

5–10 mm.

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 falling tardily, lanceolate, 4–7 mm, margins of inner sepals scarious, glandular-toothed, apex acute to acuminate, puberulent at least on midrib;

outer 3-nerved;

petals yellowish orange to salmon, with maroon or reddish base, obcordate or broadly obovate, 9–15 mm;

stamens 4–7 mm;

anthers 0.6–1.4 mm;

staminodia absent;

styles connate nearly to apex, 3–7 mm;

stigmas dark, capitate.

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-ellipsoid, 3.5–4 × 2.5–5 mm, apex obtuse, dehiscing into 5, 2-seeded segments, segments persistent on plant, false septa complete, proximal margin not terminating in loose fringe, distal part cartilaginous, margins ciliate.

Seeds

2–3 × 0.8–1.3 mm.

1.5–3 × 0.9–1.3 mm.

2n

= 30.

Linum australe

Linum puberulum

Phenology Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat Dry, open areas, rocky, sandy, limestone, gypsum, or sometimes clay soils.
Elevation 300–2500 m. (1000–8200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; MT; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; AB; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NE; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Corollas of Linum puberulum are broadly bowl-shaped. The filaments and styles are pale pink; the stigmas are dark maroon. The pollen is bright yellow; on herbarium specimens, the anthers are golden yellow to orangish yellow, drying darker. In some flowers of L. puberulum, the styles seem to be eccentric. C. M. Rogers (1968) noted that L. puberulum is the only hairy species of Linum in western North America with united styles; its gray indument and complete false septa differentiate it from L. vernale, which is glabrous and has incomplete false septa. Linum puberulum is fairly common in the Rocky Mountain foothills and high plains; it occurs in the mountains in the eastern Mojave Desert.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stipular glands present only at proximal nodes; stamens (3–)4–5 mm; styles (2–)2.7–3.3(–4) mm.
var. australe
1. Stipular glands present at nodes throughout plant; stamens 5–7 mm; styles 3.6–5.7 mm.
var. glandulosum
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 390. FNA vol. 12, p. 388.
Parent taxa Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis
Sibling taxa
L. alatum, L. allredii, L. arenicola, L. aristatum, L. berlandieri, L. bienne, L. carteri, L. catharticum, L. compactum, L. elongatum, L. floridanum, L. grandiflorum, L. harperi, L. hudsonioides, L. imbricatum, L. intercursum, L. kingii, L. lewisii, L. lundellii, L. macrocarpum, L. medium, L. neomexicanum, L. perenne, L. pratense, L. puberulum, L. rigidum, L. rupestre, L. schiedeanum, L. striatum, L. subteres, L. sulcatum, L. trigynum, L. usitatissimum, L. vernale, L. virginianum, L. westii
L. alatum, L. allredii, L. arenicola, L. aristatum, L. australe, L. berlandieri, L. bienne, L. carteri, L. catharticum, L. compactum, L. elongatum, L. floridanum, L. grandiflorum, L. harperi, L. hudsonioides, L. imbricatum, L. intercursum, L. kingii, L. lewisii, L. lundellii, L. macrocarpum, L. medium, L. neomexicanum, L. perenne, L. pratense, L. rigidum, L. rupestre, L. schiedeanum, L. striatum, L. subteres, L. sulcatum, L. trigynum, L. usitatissimum, L. vernale, L. virginianum, L. westii
Subordinate taxa
L. australe var. australe, L. australe var. glandulosum
Synonyms L. rigidum var. puberulum
Name authority A. Heller: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 627. (1898) (Engelmann) A. Heller: Pl. World 1: 22. (1897)
Web links