204 LINAGES. LiNUM. 



tate. Capsule globose, often pointed with the persistent and harden- 

 ed base of the styles, 5- (or sometimes 3-4-) celled ; each cell com- 

 pletely or partially divided by a false dissepiment proceeding from the 

 dorsal suture : dehiscence septicidal ; carpels 2-valved at the apex. 

 Seeds 2 in each carpel (I in each spurious cell), collateral, suspended 

 from near the summit, anatropous, ovate, compressed ; testa smooth, 

 mucilaginous when moistened : albumen none or very thin. Embryo 

 flat, fleshy and oily: cotyledons elliptical. — Herbaceous or suffrutes* 

 cent. Leaves entire, without stipules, sessile, alternate, or often oppo- 

 site and alternate in the same plant. Flowers terminal, often corymb- 

 ed or paniculate. 



1. LINUM. Linn, (in part) ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 423. 



Sepals (entire), petals, and stamens 5. Styles 5, or rarely 3. — Flax. 



1. L. rigidum (Pursh) : stem angled, much branched above; leaves al- 

 ternate, linear, pungently acute, rij^id, with scabrous margins; flowers pani- 

 cled or corymbose; sepals ovate-lanceolate, cuspidate, glandularly spinnlose- 

 scabrous on the margins, longer than the globose capsule ; petals sulphur- 

 yellow.— P^rs^, /?. 1. p. 210; Nutt.! gen. 1. p. 206; Hook.! Ji. Bor.-Am. 

 I. p. 105. L. striatum, Nutt. I. c. ex Hook. 



P. 7 Berendieri : low ; margins of the leaves smooth ; flowers larger. — L. 

 Berendieri, Hook. hot. mag. t. 3480. 



From the Missouri, Nnttall! Dr. James ! to the Saskatchawan, X/r. 

 7? tc/ia?'fZso??, and California, .Vm/^q//.' /?. T cxas, Drummond .' Also near 

 New Haven, Connecticut, Oakes ! N.Carolina, Schweinitz ! Georgia, Dr. 

 Boykin .'—(J) Calyx with 3 strong nerves. Bracts glandular like the sepals. 

 Flowers smaller than in L. usitatissimum; but about their size in /?, 



2. L. Virginianum (Linn.): glabrous; stem branching above; leaves 

 alternate, oblong-lanceolate or hnear, the lowermost oblong, the upper acute ; 

 panicles corymbose, with the divisions racemed ; flowers unilateral; sepals 

 ovate, mucronate, 1-nerved, a httle shorter than the mature depressed-globose 

 capsule; petals yellow.— Tl'a/^. Car. p. 117; Mich.%.! ft. 2. p. 36; Ell. sk. 

 1. p. 375 ; Hook. I c. 



On hills, &c. Upper Canada ! to Alabama ! and Florida! west to Arkansas ! 

 May-Aug. — fl) Stem about 2 feet high, slender. Leaves rarely opposite, 

 1-nerved. Flowers very small, on short pedicels. 



3. L. usitatissvmum (Linn.): glabrous; stem branching above; leaves 

 alternate, Unear-lanceolate, very acute; panicle corymbose^ sepals ovate, 

 acute, 1-nerved (3-nerved at the base), margin membranaceous ; petals some- 

 what crenate^ blue.— P»rs/i, fl. 1. p. 210 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 330. 



In fields: introduced, but hardly naturalized. June-July. — (l) Leaves 3- 

 nerved. Flowers large. Capsule acuminate. — Common Flax. 



4. L. perenne (Linn.): glabrous; branches virgate; leaves alternate, lin- 

 ear, acute (often pellucid-punctaie) ; flowers terminal and nearly opposite 

 the leaves; sepals oval, Avith membranaceous margins, 3-5-nerved at the base 

 externally acute or mucronate, internally obtuse, a little shorter than the glo- 

 bose capsule ; petals retuse, blue, 3 or 4 times the length of the calyx. — Eng. 

 bot. t. 40; Null. gen. 1. p. 206; Schiede, in Linnaa, 1. p. 71 ; Hook. fl. 

 Bor.-Am. 1. p. 106. L. Sibiricum, Linn.; DC. I.e. L. Lewisii, Pursh, 

 fl. 1. p. 210. 



