Linum rigidum Engl.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Linaceae

• Scientific Name

  Linum rigidum Engl.

• Description

  Species Description - Annual 2–5 dm, usually simple below and with ascending, racemiform branches above, the pedicels to about 1 cm, or longer in fr; stem sparsely puberulent or scabrous below, otherwise glabrous; lvs narrow, alternate, 1–3 cm, sometimes with a pair of minute dark glands at base; sep 4.5–7 mm, short-awned, all glandular-toothed, deciduous as the fr matures; pet yellow, 10–17 mm; styles 5–9 mm, united to above the middle; fr ovoid, 4–5 mm, dehiscing through the essentially complete, non-ciliate false septa into 5 2-seeded segments, the members of a pair united at base by a triangular cartilaginous plate, the true septa not separating; 2n=30. Prairies and plains; Minn. to Mo. and Tex., w. to Alta., Colo., and N.M. Ours is var. rigidum. (Cathartolinum r.)

• Common Names

  stiffstem yelllow flax