Linum puberulum |
Linum vernale |
|
---|---|---|
desert flax, hairy flax, plains flax |
Chihuahua yellow flax, Chihuahuan flax, red-eye flax |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual or short-lived perennial, 4–25 cm, densely and finely gray-puberulent throughout. | Herbs, annual, 10–50 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | ascending, branched at base, herbaceous throughout. |
ascending to erect, branched at base and in inflorescence. |
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 or proximal leaves opposite, divergent to ascending; stipular glands usually present, sometimes absent; blade linear, 8–17 × 0.5–1.3 mm, margins entire, with widely spaced glandular hairs, apex acute. |
Inflorescences | open panicles. |
open panicles. |
Pedicels | 5–10 mm. |
2–12 mm. |
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 persistent, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 4–7.5 mm, margins narrowly scarious or not, inner sepals abundantly glandular-toothed, outer sparsely toothed, apex narrowly acute; petals yellow-orange to salmon with maroon base, broadly obovate, 10–17 mm; stamens 4–8 mm; anthers 1–1.8 mm; staminodia absent; styles connate to within 0.2 mm of apex, 4–8 mm; stigmas capitate. |
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, 3–4 × 2.5–3.2 mm, apex depressed, dehiscing completely into 5, 2-seeded segments (very easily crushed), segments persistent on plant, false septa incomplete, proximal margins terminating in loose fringe. |
Seeds | 1.5–3 × 0.9–1.3 mm. |
2–2.8 × 0.9–1.3 mm. |
2n | = 30. |
= 30. |
Linum puberulum |
Linum vernale |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Oct. | Flowering Mar–Sep. |
Habitat | Dry, open areas, rocky, sandy, limestone, gypsum, or sometimes clay soils. | Limestone soils, bajadas, openings in scrublands and woodlands. |
Elevation | 300–2500 m. (1000–8200 ft.) | 1200–2400 m. (3900–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; NE; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)
|
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
|
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.) |
Corollas of Linum vernale are broadly bowl-shaped and yellow-orange to salmon with a maroon base. The filaments and styles are pale pink, and the stigmas are dark maroon. The pollen is bright yellow; on herbarium specimens, the anthers appear to be maroon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 388. | FNA vol. 12, p. 388. |
Parent taxa | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | L. rigidum var. puberulum | |
Name authority | (Engelmann) A. Heller: Pl. World 1: 22. (1897) | Wooton: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 452. (1898) — (as vernall) |
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