02 FLAX FAMILY. 



XXIV. LINAGES, FLAX FAMILY. 



Herbs (rarely shrubs) Avith regular and symmetrical flowers; 

 sepals 5, imbricated; petals 5, convolute; stamens 5, their fila- 

 ments united at the base ; ovary Avith as many cells as there 

 are styles ; pod with twice as many, through the growth of a 

 false partition. 



1. LINUM. Seeds with a mucilaginous coat and a larjje, straitrht, oily embryo ; styles and 



cells of the ovary 5; leaves simple, nearly sessile, narrow, and entire; stipules 0, or 

 gland-like; flowers (Lessons, p. 11, Figs. 1^, p. 14, Fi^'s. i) and 10, p. 9.5, Fig. 270, 

 and p. 9S, Fig. 2S1) usually opening for only one day and in sunshine, all summer. 

 Hardy. (J) or 1^ 



2. REINWAEDTIA.. Styles and cells of the ovary 3-4 ; leaves broad ; stipules minute, 



awl-shaped, falling early. Greenhouse shrubs, with showy yellow flowers. 



1. LINUM, FLAX. (The classical name.) Ours are slender herbs, 

 with flowers (often minute) of short duration. 



* Wild species, annuals or scarcely perennials, with yellow flowers. 

 H- Sepals and bracts entire. 



L. Virginianum, Linn. . The commonest Wild Flax in dry woods, 2° 

 high, spreading or recurving branches, terete and even ; leaves oblong or 

 lanceolate, i^nly the lower spatulate and opposite; flowers scattered; 

 styles distinct ; pod little larger than a pin's head. 



L. Floridanum, Trelease. Found in 111., Va., and S., is more strict, 

 with broadly ovate and obtuse pods. 



L. striatum, Walt. Like the flrst ; but has the branches short and 

 sharply 4-angled, with intermediate grooves (whence the name) ; most of 

 the stem-leaves opposite and oblong ; flowers more crowded. Wet 

 grounds, Mas.s. and Can., S. 



■\- -^ Sepals and bracts conspicidiushj serrulate with (/landnlar-bristly 

 edges. 



L. sulcatum, TJiddell. Braiiches upright, gi-ooved ; leaves linear and 

 scattered ; a pair of dark glands in place of stipules ; sepals sharp-pointed, 

 3-nerved ; styles united half-way up. Dry soil, Mass. to Minn, and S. W. 



L. rfgidum, Pursh. Usually low, glaucous ; branches rigid ; calyx 

 finally falling off ; the flowers rather large, ilis.s. River, W. 



* *• Cidlivatcd, hardy, herbaceous, xcith larijish handsome flowers. 



L. usitatissimum, Linn. COiMMON Fl.\x. Leaves narrow-lanceolate ; 

 flowers corymbose, rich blue; sepals pointed, ciliate ; stigmas slender, 

 club-.shaped. Old World, and inclined to run wild. Extensively 

 cult, for the seeds and fiber. 



L. per^nne, Linn. Pkrknnial Flax. Xarrowir leaved ; .sepals blunt, 

 .sometimes erose, but not ciliate ; petals sky-blue, but there are pink and 

 white forms ; stigmas oblong-capitate. % Cult, from Fu. in some vari- 

 eties for ornament ; a variety also native beyond the Mississippi. 



L. grandifldrum, Diisi. Red Flax. 1° high, with linear or lanceo- 

 late leaves and showy, crimson-red flowers ; sepals and bracts ciliate-ser- 

 rulate. ® 21 Cult, as a hardy annual ; from North Africa. 



2. REINWARDTIA. (For A', (r. K. Ucinwardt, a botanist of Leyden 

 in the early part of this century.) 2/ 



