Linum puberulum |
Linum carteri |
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desert flax, hairy flax, plains flax |
Carter's flax |
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Habit | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, 4–25 cm, densely and finely gray-puberulent throughout. | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, 23–60 cm, puberulent or ± scabrous on angles near base or throughout. | ||||
Stems | ascending, branched at base, herbaceous throughout. |
erect, usually unbranched below inflorescence, sometimes branched at base. |
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Leaves | 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. |
alternate, spreading; stipular glands present or absent; blade linear, 15–30 × 0.6–1.4 mm, margins entire or distalmost glandular-toothed, not ciliate, apex long-attenuate. |
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Inflorescences | open panicles. |
ascending or spreading cymes. |
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Pedicels | 5–10 mm. |
4.5–9 mm. |
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Flowers | 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. |
sepals deciduous, lanceolate, inner sepals slightly shorter than outer, outer ones 4.5–7 mm, margins of inner sepals narrowly scarious, all glandular-toothed, apex short-awned; petals orange-yellow, broadly obovate, 10–17 mm; stamens 4.5–7 mm; anthers 0.8–2.3 mm; staminodia absent; styles connate nearly to apex, 4–6 mm; stigmas capitate. |
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Capsules | 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. |
ovoid, 4–5 × 3.4–3.7 mm, thick textured, 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. |
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Seeds | 1.5–3 × 0.9–1.3 mm. |
2.3–2.8 × 1–1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 30. |
= 60. |
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Linum puberulum |
Linum carteri |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Dry, open areas, rocky, sandy, limestone, gypsum, or sometimes clay soils. | |||||
Elevation | 300–2500 m. (1000–8200 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; NE; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
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FL |
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). The stems of Linum carteri are ribbed. The corollas are broadly bowl-shaped and all parts of the flower are yellow except the bright green stigmas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 388. | FNA vol. 12, p. 393. | ||||
Parent taxa | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | L. rigidum var. puberulum | Cathartolinum carteri | ||||
Name authority | (Engelmann) A. Heller: Pl. World 1: 22. (1897) | Small: Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 3: 424. (1905) | ||||
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