Linaceae
Flax Family
Yellow flax
Linum sulcatum Riddell
- Stem: annual; 6” to 2’ tall; grooved; sometimes branched above the middle; smooth.
- Leaves: alternate; linear, 1/2” by 1/16” and smaller with sharp tips; sessile; smooth above and below; with stipu-lar glands at the base of the leaf.
- Inflorescence: branching, narrow to wide-spreading; from the stem tip and upper axils.
- Flowers: corolla yellow, oval, blunt-tipped petals 1/4” long; calyx 3/16” long, with long, sharp lobes, covered with up-turning hairs and marginal hairs; flowering from early July to mid-August.
- Fruits: seedpods are capsules; to 1/8” in diameter, opening by numerous teeth, green-brown; seeds very small, 1/32” long, oval, shiny, and slippery; fruiting begins in mid-July.
- Habitat: frequent in western Iowa to very uncommon in eastern Iowa on dry prairies and Loess Hills prairies to sandy and upland prairies.
- Bibliography from Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Vascular Plants of Iowa
Can be found in these counties:
