Linum virginianum |
Linum australe |
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Virginia yellow flax, woodland flax, woodland yellow flax |
southern flax |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 15–80 cm, glabrous. | Herbs, annual, 10–50 cm, puberulent near base, otherwise glabrous. | ||||
Stems | erect, branches 1–several from base, unbranched proximal to inflorescence. |
stiffly ascending-spreading, few to many-branched. |
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Leaves | proximal 4–10 pairs opposite, distal alternate, erect to spreading; stipular glands absent; blade of proximal leaves spatulate, central and distal elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 15–25 × 3–7 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex acute to apiculate. |
alternate, appressed; stipular glands present at basal nodes or throughout; blade linear, 7–20 × 0.5–l.9 mm, margins entire, not ciliate, apex aristate. |
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Inflorescences | corymbs. |
racemes. |
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Pedicels | 1–10 mm. |
3–15 mm. |
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Flowers | sepals persistent, lanceolate-ovate, inner shorter, broader, thinner than outer, outer sepals 2–4 mm, margins not scarious, inner sepals usually with a few small, sessile glands along margin distal to middle, rarely eglandular, outer ones entire, apex acute to acuminate; petals yellow, obovate (sometimes notched at apex), 3–5.5 mm; stamens 1.2–3 mm; anthers 0.5–1 mm; staminodia absent; styles distinct, 1–2 mm; stigmas capitate. |
sepals deciduous, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 4–7 mm, margins scarious, delicately glandular-toothed, apex aristate; petals yellow to yellow-orange throughout, oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, 5–10 mm; stamens (3–)4–7 mm; anthers 0.4–1 mm; staminodia present or absent; styles connate nearly to apex, 2–5.7 mm; stigmas green, capitate. |
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Capsules | globose, carpels flattened or ± concave abaxially, 1.3–1.8 × 2–2.5 mm, apex depressed, dehiscing freely into 10, 1-seeded segments, segments falling freely, false septa nearly complete, proximal margins usually sparsely and inconspicuously few-ciliate. |
ovoid, 3.2–4.5 × 2.5–3.4 mm, relatively thick-walled and with characteristic thickened areas at apex in region of true septa, 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 | 1–1.5 × 0.6–0.9 mm. |
2–3 × 0.8–1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 36. |
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Linum virginianum |
Linum australe |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Open woods, fields, thickets, roadsides. | |||||
Elevation | 0–800 m. (0–2600 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; WV; ON
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AZ; CO; MT; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY; AB; Mexico
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Discussion | Linum virginianum lacks prominent marginal teeth on the inner sepals, thus distinguishing it from L. striatum. It has a less elongate inflorescence and lacks the ribbed branchlets found in L. striatum (C. M. Rogers 1984). The corollas of L. virginianum are nearly rotate; all parts of the flower are yellow except the brownish anthers. Its capsules shatter readily and often are absent on herbarium sheets. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). The stems of Linum australe are strongly ridged-sulcate to ribbed, especially distally. The corollas are broadly funnelform; petals are yellow to yellow-orange; stamens and styles are yellow; stigmas are bright to olive green. Staminodia in L. australe are short, deltoid, usually two between each pair of stamens, sometimes one or absent. Linum australe is the only species in its range that is glabrous beyond the base and has connate styles. It differs from L. aristatum, which it overlaps in the southern part of the range, in being much more highly branched and having more slender capsules. C. M. Rogers (1984) noted a compact form found in sunny areas from Wyoming northward that warrants more study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 385. | FNA vol. 12, p. 390. | ||||
Parent taxa | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | Linaceae > Linum > sect. Linopsis | ||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Cathartolinum virginianum | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 279. (1753) | A. Heller: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 627. (1898) | ||||
Web links |