UitACEAji (flax family) 305 



LIRDM L. Flax 



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

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

 petals, and a S-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 oack of the carpel, the pod thus becoming 10-celIed. 



Petals blue ........ ..1. L. Lewisii. 



Petals yellow or yellowish. 

 Glabrous on leaves aad sterna. 



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. 

 Fuberulent 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 sepafe, the 

 prominent false partitions long-ciUate. 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 witli 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 ovatfe,' aciite, ^glandular-margined: 

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

 cuspidate, exceeding the calyx. — Wyoming and westward. l ' 



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

 brous or obscurely scabro-pubenilent. perennial (?), 1-2 dm. high, panicuJ 

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

 broader at base and ciUate-glandular: sepals aristate-pointed, 1 cm. long: 

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

 base: styles united to the summit: capsule half the length of the senals. — 

 Colorado and southeastern Wyoming to iCansas. 



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

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

 anguhr: leaves linear or lineai>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. australe HeUer, Bull. Torr. Bojb. Club 25: 627, 1898.)— From 

 Briti^ America to New Mexico. 



5. Linum puberulum (Engehn.) [Heller, Bull. Torr. Bot- Club 23: 627. 

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

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

 cronate, a pair of stipular glands at the base: pedisels 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 Colorado to Texas. 



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

 ennial from slender rhizomes, murky-green, with , a .scabrous puberulenoe 

 throughout, seemingly also subglutiflbus: stenis crowded on the somewhat 

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

 angled: leaves linear, about Icm. long, mucronate, no stipular glands; sepals, 

 lanceolate, obscurely 1-3-nerved, short-cuspidate, glandular-ciliate on.tiie 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 Unear: 

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

 ming. 



