Linum puberulum
Linum lundellii
desert flax, hairy flax, plains flax
Sullivan City flax
ascending, branched at base, herbaceous throughout.
spreading to erect, few-branched.
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 moderately developed at proximal nodes, absent on distal nodes;
blade linear, 5–30 × 0.5–1.5 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex acute.
open panicles.
panicles.
5–10 mm.
5–13 mm.
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, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 4–12 mm, margins narrowly scarious, glandular-toothed, apex acute to acuminate;
petals yellow to orange salmon, faintly maroon banded near base, obcordate, 7–12 mm;
stamens 4–5 mm;
anthers 1–1.5 mm;
staminodia absent;
styles connate nearly to apex, 3–4 mm;
stigmas dark, capitate.
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, 3.3–4 × 2.6–3.1 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 ciliate.
1.5–3 × 0.9–1.3 mm.
2.5–2.7 × 1.1 mm.
= 30.
= 30.
Linum puberulum
Linum lundellii
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.)
Linum lundellii occurs in southern Texas and adjacent Tamaulipas (the collection from Nuevo León, Mueller 470, TEX, made at 2400 m, may be misidentified); it can be distinguished from other species by its relatively very short styles. C. M. Rogers (1968) identified a variable population of yellow-flowered plants that he included in L. berlandieri var. filifloium (then treated as L. rigidum var. filifolium). As a result of subsequent study of these plants, he concluded that L. lundellii and L. elongatum should be recognized as separate species. Rogers (1979) compared garden-grown plants of these three taxa and observed that the anthers of L. lundellii are at the same level as the stigmas at anthesis and that pollen had already been deposited on stigmas when the flowers opened, whereas styles of L. berlandieri var. filifolium and L. elongatum are much longer than the stamens and pollen is not shed before anthesis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
