LINACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



3. Cathartolinum medium (Planch.) Small. 

 Stiff Yellow Flax. Fig. 2679. 



Linum virginianum var. medium Planch. Lond. Bot. 7: 

 480. 1848. 



Linum medium Britton in Britt. & Brown, 111. Fl. 2 : 

 349. 1897. 



Cathartolinum medium Small, N. A. Fl. 25*: 72. 1907. 



Perennial by suckers, glabrous; stems erect, striate, 

 stiff, not angled, corymbosely branched above, the 

 branches erect-ascending both in flower and in fruit; 

 leaves firm, appressed-ascending, the lowest com- 

 monly spatulate and opposite, the others lanceolate 

 to linear-lanceolate, acute, 4"-! 2" long, $"-2" wide; 

 pedicels "-3" long, the lower rarely longer than the 

 calyx; sepals ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, acute, about 

 equalling the depressed-globose capsule, which is 

 about i" high. 



In dry soil, Vermont to Ontario, Massachusetts, Flor- 

 ida, Missouri and Texas. June-Aug. 



4. Cathartolinum floridanum (Planch.) 

 Small. Florida Yellow Flax. Fig. 2680. 



Linum virginianum var. floridanum(?) Planch. Lond. 



Journ. Bot. 7: 480. 1848. 

 Linum floridanum Trel. Trans. St. Louis Acad. 5: 13. 



1887. 

 Cathartolinum floridanum Small, N. A. Fl. 25' : 72. 1907. 



Perennial, glabrous, stem strict, stiff, terete, i-2i 

 high, corymbosely branched above, the branches erect- 

 ascending, slightly angled. Leaves acute, the lowest 

 mostly opposite, narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, the 

 others linear-lanceolate, appressed-ascending, alter- 

 nate, 5"-io" long, i"-2" wide; fruiting branches 

 erect-ascending; fruiting pedicels shorter than or 

 little exceeding the calyx, or the lowest ones slightly 

 longer; sepals ovate, acute or acuminate, about equal- 

 ling the capsule; capsule ovoid, about ij" long; 

 petals yellow, twice as long as the calyx. 



Eastern Massachusetts and Illinois to Florida and 

 Louisiana. June-Aug. 



The plant of the Atlantic Coast, from Massachusetts 

 to Georgia, has somewhat smaller flowers and capsules 

 than the Florida type, and has recently been described 

 as distinct from it as Linum intercursum Bicknell. 



5. Cathartolinum catharticum (L.) Small. 

 Dwarf or Cathartic Flax. Fig. 2681. 



Linum catharticum L. Sp. PI. 281. 1753. 



Cathartolinum catharticum Small, N. A. Fl. 25* : 74. 

 1907. 



Annual, slender, glabrous, usually branched, 

 high. Leaves all opposite sessile, oval or some- 

 what obovate, entire, 2" 4' long; flowers axillary 

 and terminal, white, 2"-$" broad, on long slender 

 erect or ascending pedicels; sepals lanceolate, acute 

 or acuminate ; petals obovate ; pod small, globose. 



Along low sandy seashore, Pictou, Nova Scotia and 

 in Ontario. Naturalized from Europe where it is 

 abundant on chalky soils. Called also fairy, mountain, 

 mill-mountain, or purging flax. Fairy lint. July-Aug. 



