GENUS 2. 



FLAX FAMILY. 



437 



rarely 2-celled and with firm septa, or completely or incompletely lo-celled by false septa, the 

 carpels not ribbed on the back. Seeds flattened, often lunate. [Greek, referring to the medic- 

 inal qualities of some of the species.] 



About 70 species of wide geographic distribution. Type species : Linum catharticum L. 



Styles distinct. 



Staminodia wanting ; plants perennial ; corolla yellow. 



Sepals entire at maturity, the inner ones sometimes roughened by the bases of the deciduous 



glandular hairs. 

 Stem paniculately branched; outer sepals short (i"-iJ4" long); stem-leaves mostly 



opposite. i. C.striatum. 



Stem corymbosely branched; outer sepals long (i l /j"-iW long); stem-leaves mostly 

 alternate. 2 C. virginianum. 



Sepals, either those of both series, or those of the inner or the outer series, glandular-toothed. 

 Capsules spheroidal, depressed at the apex. 3. C. medium. 



Capsules ovoid ; pointed at the apex. 4. C. floridanum. 



Staminodia present; plants annual; corolla white. 5. C. catharticum. 



Styles more or less united. 



Sepals persistent ; capsules without thickenings at the base 6. C. sulcatum. 



Sepals deciduous ; capsules with cartilaginous thickenings at the base. 



Outer sepals slightly exceeding the capsules ; false septa of the capsule slightly thickened. 



7. C. rigidum. 



Outer sepals greatly exceeding the capsule ; false septa of the capsule thickened for about 

 one half their width. 8. C. Berlanderi. 



kte 



i. Cathartolinum striatum (Walt.) 



Small. Ridged Yellow Flax. 



Fig. 2677. 



Linum striatum Walt. Fl. Car. 118. 1788. 

 Linum diffusum Wood, Bot. & Flor. 66. 1870. 

 C. striatum Small, N. A. Fl. 25': 71. 1907. 



Perennial, paniculately branched, light green 

 and somewhat viscid, so that the plant adheres 

 to paper in which it is dried, the stem and 

 branches sharply angled or even winged by 

 low ridges decurrent from the leaf-bases. 

 Leaves usually opposite nearly up to the inflo- 

 rescence, oblong, acute or obtuse ; branches 

 of the panicle short and divergent ; flowers 

 small, yellow, often clustered ; capsule subglo- 

 bose, usually rather longer than the sepals. 



In bogs and swamps, rarely in drier ground, 

 Ontario to Massachusetts, Florida, Kentucky, 

 Missouri and Texas. Summer. 



2. Cathartolinum virginianum (L.) 



Reichenb. Wild or Slender Yellow 



Flax. Fig. 2678. 



Linum virginianum L. Sp. PI. 279. 1753. 

 C. virginianum Reichenb. Handb. 307. 1837. 



Perennial by suckers, erect or ascending, 

 glabrous, rather dark green, simple below, 

 corymbosely branched above, i-2 high. 

 Stem and branches terete, slender, not stiff, 

 striate, or slightly angled above; flowering 

 branches ascending, or sometimes weak and 

 recurved ; fruiting branches ascending, or 

 somewhat spreading; leaves thin, oblong or 

 oblanceolate, spreading or ascending, i-nerved, 

 613" long, 2"-3" wide, acute, or the lower 

 opposite and spatulate, obtuse; pedicels fili- 

 form, the lower 2"-6" long, longer than the 

 calyx; flowers yellow, 3"-4" broad; sepals 

 ovate, about equalling the depressed-globose 

 lo-celled capsule, which is about i" high. 



In shaded situations, Maine and Ontario to 

 Georgia and Alabama. June-Aug. 



