Linum lewisii
Linum subteres
blue flax, Lewis blue flax, Lewis' flax, Lewis' or wild blue flax, prairie flax, western blue flax, wild blue flax
slenderfoot flax, sprucemont flax, Utah yellow flax
erect to spreading or ascending, branched from near base and in inflorescence.
stiffly spreading-ascending, branched at base and distal to middle.
blade linear to linear-lanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 5–30 × 0.5–3(–4.5) mm.
alternate or proximalmost opposite, crowded at base, appressed-ascending;
stipular glands absent;
blade oblanceolate to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 8–17 × 1.2–2.3 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex apiculate.
open panicles or racemes.
few-flowered racemes.
5–20 mm.
(5–)20–30(–60) mm.
homostylous;
sepals elliptic or elliptic-ovate, 3.5–6 mm, margins glabrous, apex acute;
petals usually blue, sometimes white, base whitish or yellowish, cuneate-obovate, 6–23 mm;
stamens 3–10 mm;
anthers 1–2.2 mm;
staminodia present;
styles distinct, 2–12 mm;
stigmas thickened ellipsoid-capitate.
sepals persistent, lanceolate to lance-ovate, 4.5–7 mm, margins narrowly scarious, inner sepals conspicuously toothed, outer ones very coarsely glandular-toothed, sometimes sparsely so, apex acuminate or narrowly acute;
petals lemon yellow, obovate, 9–15 mm;
stamens 5–7 mm;
anthers 1–2 mm;
staminodia absent;
styles connate to within 0.8–3 mm of apex, 5.7–9 mm;
stigmas capitate.
ovoid globose, 4–8 × 5–6 mm, apex acute, segments ± persistent on plant, margins arachnoid-ciliate.
ovoid (distinctly longer than broad), 3.5–4.6 × 2.5–3.1 mm, apex sharp-pointed, dehiscing completely into 5, 2-seeded segments (very easily crushed), segments persistent on plant, false septa incomplete, proximal margins terminating in loose fringe, cartilaginous plates at base of segments poorly developed.
2.5–5 × 1.5–3 mm.
2.5–3 × 0.9–1.2 mm.
= 18.
= 30.
Linum lewisii
Linum subteres
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
Linum lewisii grows in many habitats in western North America from northern Mexico to Alaska east to the Great Plains in the United States and to the west side of Hudson and James bays in Canada; it appears to be less common in the Great Basin. A component of wildflower seed mixes, the species may be expanding its range. Some authors have considered it conspecific with L. perenne, and many collections in herbaria are identified as L. perenne without an indication of variety; they are most likely L. lewisii var. lewisii (D. J. Ockendon 1971; C. M. Rogers 1984). Because of the prevalence of L. bienne, L. perenne, and L. usitatissimum in bird seed and wildflower mixes, it may be that these three non-natives are becoming more common than in the past. Capitate stigmas distinguish L. lewisii from L. bienne and L. usitatissimum, which have linear or clavate stigmas. Distinguishing L. lewisii from L. perenne is more difficult: the size of flower parts in the homostyled L. lewisii varies along elevational and latitudinal gradients, with smaller flowers and flower parts in higher elevations and higher latitudes; except in var. lepagei, the styles are always longer than the stamens. In the heterostyled L. perenne, populations usually include plants in which flowers have stamens much longer than the very short styles (short-styled form) and plants in which flowers have stamens much shorter than the very long styles, up to twice as long as the stamens (long-styled form).
C. A. Kearns and D. W. Inouye (1994) reported that Linum lewisii is facultatively autogamous but tends not to set seed in the absence of pollinators; small bees and flies are the most common pollinators. A. Cronquist et al. (1997b) reported unusual populations of L. lewisii on sandy soil in Nye County, Nevada, in the 40-Mile-Canyon drainage, that had persistent, ascending, pale blue petals with darker veins.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Linum subteres is most closely related to L. vernale; it has lemon yellow petals, rather than orange to salmon-colored with a maroon base, and relatively thick, crowded, broad basal leaves (C. M. Rogers 1984). Leaves on the proximal half of each stem are closely spaced and imbricate; distal branches and inflorescence are widely spaced and subtended by closely appressed, relatively long, narrow leaves or bracts, giving the upper part of the plant a leafless look.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals mostly white; Hudson and James Bay regions. | var. lepagei |
1. Petals usually blue; w North America. | → 2 |
2. Petals (8–)12–23 mm; styles 6–12 mm. | var. lewisii |
2. Petals 6–13 mm; styles 2–6 mm. | var. alpicola |
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
SW CO Wildflowers
