smaller, thin, 3-lobed, more or less halberd-shaped, sparingly appressed-pubescent 

 above, the lower surface similar except for some retrorse pubescence on the veins; 

 stipules attenuate-lanceolate, to about 1 cm. long, puberulent, ciliate; peduncles 

 axillary, slender, 3-15 cm. long; pedicels paired, finely retrorsely pubescent and 

 often somewhat glandular, 1.5-3 cm. long; sepals 8-10 mm. long, oval-lanceolate, 

 appressed-pubescent, the mucro 1-2 mm. long; petals purplish-pink or sometimes 

 paler, 1-1.5 cm. long, obovate, retuse, pilose about half their length; filaments 

 pinkish-buff, to about 1 cm. long; mature stylar column 2.5-3 cm. long, appressed- 

 pubescent or glandular-pubescent; stylodia 6-7 mm. long; carpel bodies 4-5 mm. 

 long, sparingly short-strigose; seeds about 3 mm. long, reticulate. 



Muddy seepage banks about springs and along streams, wet meadows and 

 wooded slopes in mts., in N.M. (Grant, Socorro and Dona Ana cos.) and Ariz. 

 (Apache to Mohave, s. to Cochise and Pima cos.), June-Oct. 



A closely related species, G. caespitoswn James, that usually grows in dryer 

 habitats may occasionally be found in somewhat wettish places. It is an entirely 

 non-glandular plant. 



Fam. 76. Linaceae S. F. Gray Flax Family 



Herbs or shrubs; leaves simple, alternate, opposite or whorled; stipular glands 

 present or none; flowers bisexual, regular, cymose; calyx 4- or 5-merous, imbricate; 

 corolla 4- or 5-merous, convolute, the petals distinct or rarely united basally, fuga- 

 cious; stamens commonly as many as and alternate with the petals, united at the 

 base, sometimes with diminutive intervening staminodia; pistil 1, ovary superior; 

 carpels 2 to 5, the locules often twice as many by the intrusion of false septa; 

 ovules 2 per carpel; styles as many as carpels, separate or united; stigma capitate 

 or slender; fruit a capsule or rarely fleshy; seeds flat, oily. 



About 200 species in ten genera, widespread in tropical and temperate regions. 

 Represented in our area by a single genus. 



1. Linum L. Flax 



Annual or perennial herbs, mostly with scorpioid cymes; flowers 5-merous 

 throughout; fruit a more or less completely 10-celled capsule, dehiscing into 10 or 

 (along the false septa) into 5 parts; otherwise with the characters of the family. 



About 150 species, widely distributed in subtropical and temperate regions. 



1. Margins of inner sepals with conspicuous stalked glands; mature fruit in dried 

 specimens usually adhering to the plant; leaves narrowly lanceolate 

 to oblanceolate 1. L. medium var. texanum. 



1. Margins of inner sepals glandless or with very inconspicuous glands; mature 

 fruit in dried specimens usually soon shattering; leaves elliptic to 

 oblanceolate or obovate 2. L. striatum. 



1. Linum medium (Planch.) Britt. var. texanum (Planch.) Fern. Sucker flax. 

 Erect glabrous perennial, 2-8 dm. tall; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 1-2.5 cm. 



long, the lower few opposite, otherwise alternate; stipular glands none; inflorescence 

 paniculate; sepals 2-3.5 mm. long, the outer entire, the inner glandular-toothed; 

 petals yellow, 5-8 mm. long; staminodia none; styles separate, 1-3 mm. long; fruit 

 depressed-globose or subspherical, about 2 mm. high, tardily separating into 10 

 segments; false septa nearly complete, eciliate; seeds about 1.5 mm. long. 



Open fields, meadows, beaches and swales, e. Tex. and e. Okla. {Waterfall), 

 May-Aug.; Tex. to Fla. and Bah. I., n. to la. and Me. 



2. Linum striatum Walt. 



Glabrous perennial; stems usually several from the base, 3-10 dm. tall; leaves 

 elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, 15-35 mm. long, the lower opposite, the upper 



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