Common Name:
PERENNIAL FLAX
|
Coefficient of Conservatism:
*
Coefficient of Wetness:
5
Wetness Index:
UPL
Physiognomy:
Ad P-Forb
R. W. Smith
Sandy or gravelly disturbed ground. Native in Europe, rarely escaped in our area, where it is locally, and apparently relatively recently, established, having been first collected outside of cultivation in 1946 in Leelanau Co.
The flowers are heterostylous; some plants in a population have long stamens and short styles, while others have short stamens and long styles. Some old collections, perhaps merely cultivated or persisting briefly on cultivated soil, from Wayne and Washtenaw Cos. are apparently homostylous (stamens and styles about the same length) and are presumably the very similar western North American L. lewisii Pursh, which is also sometimes cultivated.
The sepals have the two lateral nerves nearly or quite as strong as the mid-nerve, and the inner sepals are more obtuse or rounded than in L. usitatissimum, in which the midnerve is distinctly stronger than the lateral nerves. The larger leaves of L. usitatissimum tend to be 3-nerved, while those of L. perenne are 1-nerved (except perhaps at the base).