LINACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



3. Cathartolinum medium (Planch. Small. 

 Stiff Yellow Flax. Fig. 2679 



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

 480. 1848. 



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

 349. 1897. 



Cathartolinum medium Small, N. A. Fl. 25': 7 1907. 



Perennial by suckers, glabrous ; stems ere, striate, 

 stiff, not angled, corymbosely branched ;i 

 branches erect-ascending both in flower an< n fruit; 

 leaves firm, appressed-ascending, the lovst com- 

 monly spatulate and opposite, the others .nceolate 

 to linear-lanceolate, acute, 4"-i2" long, i' "-" wide; 

 pedicels i"-3" long, the lower rarely longt than the 

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

 equalling the depressed-globose capsule, vhich is 

 about i" high. 



In dry soil, Vermont to Ontario, Massachu.-tts, 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, ii-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, $"-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 \\" 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 Ivissachusetts 

 to Georgia, has somewhat smaller flowers ad capsules 

 than the Florida type, and has recently tua described 

 as distinct from it as Linum intercursum icknell. 



5. Cathartolinum catharticum (..) Small. 

 Dwarf or Cathartic Flax. Fif 2681. 



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



Cathartolinum catharticum Small, N. A. >?\. 25* : 

 1907. 



_ Annual, slender, glabrous, usually briched, 3'-8 

 high. Leaves all opposite, sessile, o\. or some- 

 what oboyate, entire, 2" -4" long; flov.rs axilla 

 and terminal, white, 2"-$" broad, on >ng slender 

 erect or ascending pedicels; sepals lam->late, acute 

 or acuminate; petals obovate; pod sma. globose. 



Along low sandy seashore, Pictou, Noi Scotia_ and 

 in Ontario. Naturalized from Europe where il 

 abundant on chalky soils. Called also fay, mountain, 

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



