LINACEAE (FLAX FAMILY) 305 



LINUM L. FLAX 



Herbs, with tough fibrous bark, alternate (sometimes opposite) leaves with- 

 out stipules or with glands in their place, persistent sepals and ephemeral 

 petals, and a 5-celled pod with 2 seeds hanging from the summit of each cell, 

 which is partly or completely divided into two by a false partition projecting 

 from the back of the carpel, the pod thus becoming 10-celled. 



Petals blue . 1. L. Lewisii. 



Petals yellow or yellowish. 



Glabrous on leaves and stems. 



Leaves imbricated . . . . . . . . . 2. L. Kingii. 



Leaves small and sparse. 



Flowers orange; styles united to summit 3. L. arkansanum. 



Flowers yellow; styles distinct at summit . . . . 4. L. rigidum. 

 Puberulent on leaves and stems. 



Filaments dilated below; styles united to summit . . . 5. L. puberulum. 

 Filaments linear; styles distinct at summit . . . . . 6. L. compactum. 



1. Linum Lewisii Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 210. 1814. Branching above, 

 leafy: leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, acute: flowers large, in few-flowered 

 corymbs or scattered on the leafy branches: capsule exceeding the sepals, the 

 prominent false partitions long-ciliate. L. perenne. Common on dry soils 

 throughout our whole range, thence northward and westward. 



2. Linum Kingii Wats. Bot. King's Exp. 49. 1871. Low glabrous peren- 

 nial with woody base, 10-25 cm. high: stems numerous, ascending, panicled 

 above: leaves alternate, crowded or imbricated below, linear to oblong, ob- 

 tuse: flowers yellow, crowded: sepals ovate, acute, glandular-margined: 

 filaments dilated at base: styles free, as long as the stamens: capsule globose, 

 cuspidate, exceeding the calyx. Wyoming and westward. 



3. Linum arkansanum Ostcrh. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 28: 645. 1901. Gla- 

 brous or obscurely scabro-puberulent, perennial (?), 1-2 dm. high, panicu- 

 lately branched from near the base:, leaves linear, 1-2 cm. long; the upper 

 broader at base and ciliate-glandular: sepals uristate-pointed, 1 cm. long: 

 petals cuneate, 15 mm. long, 10 mm. broad, orange-colored with rose-tinted 

 case: styles united to the summit: capsule half the length of the sepals. 

 Colorado and southeastern Wyoming to Kan- 



4. Linum rigidum Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept . 210. 1814. Glabrous or nearly so 

 and glaucous, branched, 2-5 dm. high; the branches stiff and more or less 

 angular: leaves linear or linear-lanceolate; the upper glandular-serrulate: 

 sepals lanceolate, acute or awn-pointed: petals sulphur-yellow, cuneate- 

 obovate, twice as long as the sepals: styles united nearly to the summit: fila- 

 ments subulate from a triangular base: capsule ovoid, a little shorter than 

 the sepals. (L. austrole Heller, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 25: 627. 1898.) From 

 British America to New Mexico. 



5. Linum puberulum (Engelm.) Heller, Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 23: 627. 

 1896. Puberulent but glaucous, 1-2 dm. high: stems branched from the base; 

 the branches paniculately branched above: leaves erect, linear, 1-nerved, mu- 

 cronate, a pair of stipular glands at the base : pedicels equaling or exceeding 

 the calyx: sepals glandulose-ciliate, the exterior 3-nerved: filaments with an 

 ovate-triangular base: styles united to the summit: capsule ovate, scarcely 

 shorter than the sepals. Utah and Colorad9 to Texas. 



6. Linum compactum A. Nels. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 31: 241. 1904. Per- 

 ennial from slender rhizomes, murky-green, with a scabrous puberulence 

 throughout, seemingly also subglutinous: stems crowded on the somewhat 

 enlarged crowns, about 1 dm. long, each freely branched, striate but not wing- 

 angled: leaves linear, about 1 cm. long, mucronate, no stipular glands: sepals 

 lanceolate, obscurely 1-3-nerved, short-cuspidate, glandular-ciliate on the sca- 

 rious margin, 5-6 mm. long, scarcely surpassing the mature fruit: petals yel- 

 lowish, wholly glabrous, nearly twice as long as the sepals: filaments linear: 

 styles free for one third their length. On the Platte river in eastern Wyo- 

 ming. 



ROCKY MT. BOT. 20 



