- Family:
- Linaceae DC. ex Perleb
Linum L.

[FTEA]
Linaceae, Doreen L. Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1966
- Morphology General Habit
- Perennial or annual herbs, often woody at the base
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves sessile, alternate, opposite or whorled, entire or with shortly denticulate margin
- Morphology Leaves Stipules
- Stipules glandular, persistent, or absent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence a terminal monochasial or dichasial cyme, or rarely flowers solitary
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals 4–5, entire or with capitate-glandular serrate margin, free, persistent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 4–5, white,, yellow, blue, pink or red, free or very rarely united at base, shortly clawed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 4–5, alternating with petals; staminodes occasionally present, 4–5, filiform and between the stamens, all joined at base forming a short staminal tube
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary 4–5-locular; each loculus partly divided by a false septum and containing two pendulous ovules
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Styles 4–5, free or rarely united at base; stigmas linear, oblong or capitate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a 4–5-locular, 8–10-valved capsule
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds smooth and flat, with little or no endosperm present; testa becoming mucilaginous on wetting; embryo straight.
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Perennial or annual herbs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, sessile; stipules glandular or absent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers white, yellow, blue, pink or red, in terminal monochasial or dichasial cymes or rarely solitary, sometimes heterostylous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary 4–5-celled; styles 4–5, usually free
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a 4–5-celled, 8–10-valved capsule
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds smooth and flat, with little or no endosperm; testa becoming slimy on wetting.
- Distribution
- Some 200 species, mainly in north temperate and subtropical regions, especially abundant in the Mediterranean area.
- Note
- The commercial flax is L. usitatissimum L.
[FZ]
Linaceae, N. K. B. Robson. Flora Zambesiaca 2:1. 1963
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrublets or, more frequently, perennial or annual herbs, sometimes woody at the base.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves sessile, alternate (or sometimes opposite or whorled at the base of the stem), entire or with a denticulate or ciliate margin, 1- to several-nerved; stipules glandular or absent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers terminal, few to many in monochasial or subdichasial cymes or more rarely solitary, homostylic or heterostylic.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals 5, quincuncial, entire or with glandular-ciliate margin, free, persistent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 5, yellow, blue, red, pink or white, free or very rarely united at the base, shortly and narrowly unguiculate with a terminal claw.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium
- Stamens 5, alternating with the petals and with the filaments ± united in the lower part to form a tube bearing 5 nectary glands outside; staminodes alternating with the stamens and forming filiform processes from the staminal tube, or absent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary 5-locular, each loculus partially divided by a false septum; styles 5, free or rarely united in the lower half; stigmas capitate or obliquely clavate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit a 5-locular 10-valved capsule with 2-seeded loculi, the seeds in each loculus partially separated by a well-developed false septum.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds smooth, flat, with slime-epidermis and little or no endosperm; embryo straight.
Native to:
Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, Bahamas, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Burundi, Buryatiya, California, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Central European Rus, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile North, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Colorado, Connecticut, Corse, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Djibouti, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Florida, France, Free State, Føroyar, Galápagos, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Gulf States, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Idaho, Illinois, India, Indiana, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Magadan, Maine, Malawi, Manchuria, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mongolia, Montana, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nebraska, Netherlands, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Nicaragua, North Carolina, North Caucasus, North Dakota, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northwest European R, Northwest Territorie, Norway, Nunavut, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Qinghai, Québec, Rhode I., Romania, Rwanda, Sardegna, Saskatchewan, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, South Carolina, South Dakota, South European Russi, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Utah, Uzbekistan, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Western Sahara, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Xinjiang, Yakutskiya, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Yukon, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Extinct in:
Sri Lanka
Introduced into:
Argentina South, Assam, Azores, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Chile South, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Kamchatka, Nepal, New Brunswick, New Caledonia, Newfoundland, Norfolk Is., Nova Scotia, Prince Edward I., Sakhalin, Thailand, Vietnam
- Linum acuticarpum C.M.Rogers
- Linum adenophyllum A.Gray
- Linum adustum E.Mey. ex Planch.
- Linum aethiopicum Thunb.
- Linum africanum L.
- Linum aksehirense Tugay & Ulukuş
- Linum alatum (Small) H.J.P.Winkl.
- Linum albidum Ewart & Jean White
- Linum album Kotschy ex Boiss.
- Linum allredii Sivinski & M.O.Howard
- Linum alpinum Jacq.
- Linum altaicum Ledeb. ex Juz.
- Linum amurense Alef.
- Linum anglicum Mill.
- Linum appressum Caball.
- Linum arboreum L.
- Linum arenicola (Small) H.J.P.Winkl.
- Linum aretioides Boiss.
- Linum aristatum Engelm.
- Linum aroanium Boiss. & Orph.
- Linum australe A.Heller
- Linum austriacum L.
- Linum ayliniae Yılmaz
- Linum bahamense Northr.
- Linum baicalense Juz.
- Linum basarabicum (Săvul. & Rayss) Klokov ex Juz.
- Linum berlandieri Hook.
- Linum betsiliense Baker
- Linum bicarpellatum Sharsm.
- Linum bienne Mill.
- Linum boissieri Asch. & Sint. ex Boiss.
- Linum brachypetalum O.Schwartz
- Linum brevifolium A.St.-Hil. & Naudin
- Linum brevistylum C.M.Rogers
- Linum breweri A.Gray
- Linum burkartii Mildner
- Linum caespitosum Sm.
- Linum californicum Benth.
- Linum campanulatum L.
- Linum capitatum Kit. ex Schult.
- Linum cariense Boiss.
- Linum carneum A.St.-Hil.
- Linum carnosulum Boiss.
- Linum carratracense (Rivas Goday & Rivas Mart.) Mart.Labarga & Muñoz Garm.
- Linum carteri Small
- Linum catharticum L.
- Linum chaborasicum Mouterde
- Linum chamissonis Schiede
- Linum ciliatum Hayek
- Linum clevelandii Greene
- Linum compactum A.Nelson
- Linum comptonii C.M.Rogers
- Linum congestum A.Gray
- Linum corymbiferum Desf.
- Linum corymbulosum Rchb.
- Linum cratericola Eliasson
- Linum cremnophilum I.M.Johnst.
- Linum cruciatum Planch.
- Linum cubense Bisse
- Linum czernjajevii Klokov
- Linum decumbens Desf.
- Linum densiflorum P.H.Davis
- Linum digynum A.Gray
- Linum doerfleri Rech.f.
- Linum dolomiticum Borbás
- Linum drymarioides Curran
- Linum elegans Spruner ex Boiss.
- Linum elongatum H.J.P.Winkl.
- Linum emirnense Bojer
- Linum empetrifolium (Boiss.) P.H.Davis
- Linum erigeroides A.St.-Hil.
- Linum ertugrulii Tugay, Bağcı & Uysal
- Linum esterhuyseniae C.M.Rogers
- Linum euboeum Bornm.
- Linum extraaxillare Kit.
- Linum filiforme Urb.
- Linum flagellare (Small) H.J.P.Winkl.
- Linum flavum L.
- Linum floridanum (Planch.) Trel.
- Linum flos-carmini Ruiz-Martin, Mart.Labarga, Jim.Mejías & Pérez-Barr.
- Linum gaditanum Mart.Labarga & Muñoz Garm.
- Linum goulimyi Rech.f.
- Linum gracile Sm. ex Planch.
- Linum grandiflorum Desf.
- Linum guatemalense Benth.
- Linum gyaricum Vierh.
- Linum gypsogenium G.L.Nesom
- Linum harlingii Eliasson
- Linum harperi Small
- Linum hellenicum Iatroú
- Linum heterosepalum Regel
- Linum heterostylum C.M.Rogers
- Linum hirsutum L.
- Linum hologynum Rchb.
- Linum hudsonioides Planch.
- Linum hypericifolium Salisb.
- Linum imbricatum (Raf.) B.D.Jacks.
- Linum intercursum E.P.Bicknell
- Linum iranicum Hausskn. ex Bornm.
- Linum jimenezii Pau
- Linum katiae Peruzzi
- Linum kaynakiae Yılmaz
- Linum keniense T.C.E.Fr.
- Linum khorassanicum Joharchi & Behrooz.
- Linum kingii S.Watson
- Linum komarovii Juz.
- Linum kurdicum (P.H.Davis) Naum.-Svetl.
- Linum lasiocarpum Rose
- Linum leonii F.W.Schultz
- Linum leucanthum Boiss. & Spruner
- Linum lewisii Pursh
- Linum littorale A.St.-Hil.
- Linum longipes Rose
- Linum lundellii C.M.Rogers
- Linum macraei Benth.
- Linum macrocarpum C.M.Rogers
- Linum macrorhizum Juz.
- Linum marginale A.Cunn.
- Linum marianorum (Rivas Goday & Bellot) Mart.Labarga & Muñoz Garm.
- Linum maritimum L.
- Linum marojejyense (Humbert) C.M.Rogers
- Linum mauritanicum Pomel
- Linum mcvaughii C.M.Rogers
- Linum medium (Planch.) Britton
- Linum meletonis Hand.-Mazz.
- Linum mexicanum Kunth
- Linum micranthum A.Gray
- Linum modestum C.M.Rogers
- Linum monogynum G.Forst.
- Linum mucronatum Bertol.
- Linum mysorense B.Heyne ex Benth.
- Linum narbonense L.
- Linum nelsonii Rose
- Linum neomexicanum Greene
- Linum nervosum Waldst. & Kit.
- Linum nodiflorum L.
- Linum numidicum Murb.
- Linum obtusatum (Boiss.) Stapf
- Linum olgae Juz.
- Linum oligophyllum Willd. ex Schult.
- Linum olympicum Boiss.
- Linum orizabae Planch.
- Linum pallasianum Schult.
- Linum pallescens Bunge
- Linum pamphylicum (Boiss.) Podp.
- Linum perenne L.
- Linum persicum Boiss.
- Linum peyronii Post
- Linum phitosianum Christod. & Iatroú
- Linum platyphyllum (P.H.Davis) Yıld.
- Linum polygaloides Planch.
- Linum pratense (Norton) Small
- Linum pringlei S.Watson
- Linum prostratum Dombey ex Lam.
- Linum puberulum (Engelm.) A.Heller
- Linum pubescens Banks & Sol.
- Linum punctatum C.Presl
- Linum pungens Planch.
- Linum quadrifolium L.
- Linum ramosissimum Gay
- Linum rigidum Pursh
- Linum rupestre Engelm. ex A.Gray
- Linum rzedowskii Arreguín
- Linum salsoloides Lam.
- Linum scabrellum Planch.
- Linum schiedeanum Schltdl. & Cham.
- Linum scoparium Griseb.
- Linum selaginoides Lam.
- Linum seljukorum P.H.Davis
- Linum setaceum Brot.
- Linum silpii Gomb.
- Linum smithii Mildner
- Linum spergulinum A.Gray
- Linum squamulosum Rudolphi ex Willd.
- Linum squarrosum Munby
- Linum stelleroides Planch.
- Linum stocksianum Boiss.
- Linum striatum Walter
- Linum strictum L.
- Linum subbiflorum Juz.
- Linum subteres (Trel.) H.J.P.Winkl.
- Linum suffruticosum L.
- Linum sulcatum Riddell
- Linum tauricum Willd.
- Linum tegedense (C.Vicioso ex Pau) Mart.Labarga & Muñoz Garm.
- Linum tenellum Schltdl. & Cham.
- Linum tenue Desf.
- Linum tenuifolium L.
- Linum thesioides Bartl.
- Linum thracicum Degen
- Linum thunbergii Eckl. & Zeyh.
- Linum tmoleum Boiss.
- Linum toxicum Boiss.
- Linum triflorum P.H.Davis
- Linum trigynum L.
- Linum turcomanicum Juz.
- Linum ucranicum (Griseb. ex Planch.) Czern.
- Linum unguiculatum P.H.Davis
- Linum uninerve (Rochel) Jáv.
- Linum usitatissimum L.
- Linum vanense Azn.
- Linum velutinum Steud. ex Planch.
- Linum vernale Wooton
- Linum verruciferum Azn.
- Linum villarianum Pau
- Linum villosum C.M.Rogers
- Linum violascens Bunge
- Linum virginianum L.
- Linum virgultorum Boiss. & Heldr. ex Planch.
- Linum viscosum L.
- Linum volkensii Engl.
- Linum vuralianum Yılmaz & Kaynak
- Linum westii C.M.Rogers
Linum L. appears in other Kew resources:
First published in Sp. Pl.: 277 (1753)
Accepted by
- Svetlova, A. (2009). The taxonomic review of the genus Linum L. (Linaceae) of the flora of Russia and adjacent states. Novosti Sistematiki Vysshikh Rastenii 41: 99-165.
Literature
Flora Zambesiaca
- Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 135 (1754).
- Sp. Pl. 1: 277 (1753)
Flora of Somalia
- Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- L., Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 135 (1754)
- Sp. Pl.: 277 (1753)
-
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China
The Malesian Key Group (2010) Interactive Key to Seed Plants of Malesia and Indo-China (Version 2.0, 28 Jul 2010) The Nationaal Herbarium Nederland Leiden and The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
-
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Science Photographs
Copyright applied to individual images