Linum usitatissimum |
Linum harperi |
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common flax, cultivated flax, flax-seed, lin cultivé, lin-seed |
Harper's flax |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, 20–100 cm, glabrous or glabrate throughout. | Herbs, annual, 25–85 cm, glabrous. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or few-branched at base (all flowering). |
erect to ascending, unbranched proximally, few to many branched distal to middle. |
Leaves | divergent; blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 10–40 × 1.5–5 mm. |
proximal 0–13 pairs opposite (often fallen at anthesis), distal alternate, appressed-ascending; stipular glands usually present, very rarely absent; blade of proximal leaves oblanceolate or spatulate, of distal ones linear, 7–30 × 1–3 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex acute to subulate; midrib prominent, marginal nerves less conspicuous. |
Inflorescences | open panicles. |
racemelike; bracts glandular-toothed, not ciliate. |
Pedicels | erect in fruit, to 20–25 mm. |
1.3–4.7 mm. |
Flowers | homostylous; sepals ovate, 6–9 mm, margins of inner sepals minutely ciliate, outer ciliate, apex acuminate; petals usually blue, rarely white, obovate, 10–15 mm; stamens 5–7 mm; anthers 1–1.5 mm; staminodia present; styles distinct or connate at base, 3–6 mm; stigmas linear or clavate. |
sepals persistent, outer sepals oblong, 2.3–3.7 mm, margins not scarious, all very coarsely, irregularly glandular-toothed (inner sepals more closely and finely toothed than outer), apex acute; petals pale yellow, obovate, 5–10 mm; stamen length unknown; anthers 0.3–0.7 mm; staminodia absent; styles connate 0.2–1.8 mm at base, 2–4.5 mm; stigmas capitate. |
Capsules | ovoid to subglobose, 6–10 × 5–10 mm, apex rounded, dehiscing incompletely, segments falling freely, margins ciliate or not. |
ovoid, 2.5–3.3 × 2.1–3 mm, apex rounded to acute, dehiscing freely into 10, sharp-pointed, 1-seeded segments, segments persistent on plant, false septa incomplete, margins prominently ciliate. |
Seeds | 4–6 × 2.5–3 mm. |
1.6–2.1 × 0.8–1.1 mm. |
2n | = 30. |
= 30. |
Linum usitatissimum |
Linum harperi |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Sep. | Flowering Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, roadsides, abandoned homesteads, fields. | Dry pine barrens, clearings in pine flatwoods, calcareous soils or limestone outcrops. |
Elevation | 0–2400 m. (0–7900 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in c Mexico, Central America, s South America, Pacific Islands (New Zealand)]
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AL; FL; GA |
Discussion | Linum usitatissimum has been cultivated since antiquity, and it is this cultivated form that has naturalized in the wild. Flax fibers twisted to make rope or dyed for fabric dated 32,000–26,000 years before present were found in a cave in Dzudzuana, Georgia (E. Kvavadze et al. 2009). Stem fibers of L. usitatissimum are used to make linen; the seeds are pressed to produce linseed oil; the rest of the seeds are compacted into cakes and used as fodder. Linum usitatissimum is the only species in the flora area except L. bienne that has linear stigmas and minutely ciliate inner sepals. It can be distinguished from L. bienne by its larger, apically rounded capsules. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Dried plants of Linum harperi are dark purple-dotted distally. The species occurs in the center of the Florida panhandle, southwestern Georgia, and central Alabama. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 374. | FNA vol. 12, p. 386. |
Parent taxa | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linum | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Cathartolinum harperi, L. sulcatum var. harperi | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 277. (1753) | Small: Fl. S.E. U.S. 663, 1332. (1903) |
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