Thomas J. Elpel's
Web World Portal

Wildflower Logo.
Wildflowers & Weeds

Facebook Button. 		Banner Image.
Wildflowers-and-Weeds.com  
Plant Identification, Edible Plants, Weed Ecology, Mushrooms, and more.
Home | Plant Identification | Plant Families Gallery | Edible Plants | Mushrooms | Links
Desertification & Weed Ecology | Weed Profiles | E-Mail | Search this Site

Linaceae: Flax Family Plant Identification Characteristics

Linaceae
Plants of the Flax Family

      Flax plants wake up with a cheer every morning. In spite of their wispy little stems and small leaves that may nearly disappear in dry weather, flax plants open up a whole bouquet of fresh flowers each day with the rising sun. The plants often droop under the weight of their own exuberance, and all the petals fall off by noon-but just wait until tomorrow, and they will do it all again.

      Flax is often planted in wildflower mixes used along highways in the West. The flowers are bisexual and regular, with 5 separate sepals, 5 separate petals and 5 or 10 stamens. The sepals are alternate with the petals. The ovary is positioned superior and consists of 5 (rarely 3 or 4) united carpels (syncarpous), with the partition walls present, forming an equal number of chambers. It often looks more like 10 carpels due to intrusion of the midrib. The ovary matures as a capsule (rarely a drupe) with each cell containing 1 or 2 seeds. The capsule splits apart longitudinally like the sections of an orange.

      Worldwide, there are 12 genera and 290 species. Only Hesperolinon and Linum are native to North America. Flax plants supply fibers for linen and seeds for linseed oil. Linseed oil is used as a drying agent in paints and varnishes and is also used in the manufacture of linoleum. Reinwardtia is a small shrub from India sometimes planted in conservatories.

Key Words: Flower parts in fives. Seed capsules like the sections of an orange.

Please e-mail Thomas J. Elpel to report mistakes or to inquire about purchasing high resolution photos of these plants.

Linum lewisii. Blue Flax.

Linum lewisii. Blue Flax.

Linum lewisii. Blue Flax.

Linum lewisii. Blue Flax.

Linum rigidum. Stiffstem Flax.

Linum rigidum. Stiffstem Flax.

Linum rigidum. Stiffstem Flax.

Linum rigidum. Stiffstem Flax. Near Ashland, Montana.

There are more
Flax Family pictures
at PlantSystematics.org.

Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
Identify plants with
Botany in a Day		 Foraging the Mountain West
Start feasting with
Foraging the Mountain West

Return to the Plant Families Index
Return to the Wildflowers & Weeds Home Page

      Looking for life-changing resources? Check out these books by Thomas J. Elpel:

Green Prosperity: Quit Your Job, Live Your Dreams.
Green
Prosperity		 Roadmap to Reality: Consciousness, Worldviews, and the Blossoming of Human Spirit
Roadmap
to Reality		 Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction
Living
Homes		Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills.
Participating
in Nature		 Foraging the Mountain West: Gourmet Edible Plants, Mushrooms, and Meat.
Foraging the
Mountain West		 Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification
Botany
in a Day		 Shanleya's Quest: A Botany Adventure for Kids
Shanleya's
Quest

Portal Icon.
Return to Thomas J. Elpel's
Web World Portal | Web World Tunnel

Thomas J. Elpel's Web World Pages
About Tom | Green University®, LLC
HOPS Press, LLC | Dirt Cheap Builder Books
Primitive Living Skills | Outdoor Wilderness Living School, LLC
Wildflowers & Weeds | Jefferson River Canoe Trail
Roadmap To Reality | What's New?
© 1997 - 2021 Thomas J. Elpel