FAIRY FLAX

PURGING FLAX

Linum catharticum

Flax Family [Linaceae]  

month8May month8jun month8june month8jul month8july month8Aug month8sep month8sept

flower
flower8bicolour
flower
flower8white
inner
inner8yellow
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZ5
stem
stem8round

12th June 2009, A Greenside Mine Leet, Glenridding, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
A short plant with thin wiry stems adopting one of its characteristic poses: a drooping head. Narrow oblong leaves in opposite pairs held upwards and close to the stem.


12th June 2009, A Mine Leet, Glenridding, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Several flower heads held aloft on one plant. Usually five yellow stamens and five pale yellow anthers adorn the centre surrounded by five white petals.


12th June 2009, A Greenside Mine Leet, Glenridding, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Leaves have a central vein.


4th Sept 2010, Shining Tor, Derbyshire. Photo: © RWD
The five sepals are tapered to points.


16th June 2009, Great Orme, Llandudno, North Wales. Photo: © RWD
So short and lost amongst the short limestone turf which it loves growing in (if you looked closely enough, it is almost ubiquitous here) it had to be cut free to get a better look at it.


12th June 2009, A Greenside Mine Leet, Glenridding, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
Flowers very indeterminate at first resembling those of Meadow Saxifrage, Sandworts and Pearlworts, or even of non-existent 5-petalled Scurvygrasses.


12th June 2009, A Greenside Mine Leet, Glenridding, Cumbria. Photo: © RWD
The flower is small, only about 5mm across with five white petals each having four or five translucent veins.


4th Sept 2010, Shining Tor, Derbyshire. Photo: © RWD
Petals are rounded-diamond shaped. Translucent veins very apparent. Five stamens with yellow pollen concentrically surrounding five stigmas.


27th June 2015, wildflower area, Knowsley Safari Park, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Developing fruit still with stigma attached.


27th June 2015, wildflower area, Knowsley Safari Park, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD
Five sepals, not always triangular but often wider near the tip.


27th June 2015, wildflower area, Knowsley Safari Park, Merseyside. Photo: © RWD


4th Sept 2010, Shining Tor, Derbyshire. Photo: © RWD
The dead, brown, empty shells of the flowerheads create a fuzz looking like a dead grass.


Some similarities to : Saxifrages particularly Meadow Saxifrage, Pearlworts and Sandworts. If it were not for the presence of five petals and not four it would also strongly resemble some of the Scurvygrasses.

Not to be semantically confused with : any Toadflaxes such as Purple Toadflax (Linaria purpurea), Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis), Sand Toadflax (Linaria arenaria), Malling Toadflax (Chaenorhinum origanifolium), Bastard Toadflax (Thesium humifusum) Flax Dodder (Cuscuta epilinum), Flaxfield Rye-grass (Lolium remotum), New-Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax), Toadflax-leaved St John's-wort (Hypericum linariifolium) [plants with similar names belonging to differing families]

No relation to : Fairy Fern [a plant with similar name] nor to Fairy Foxglove (Erinus alpinus) [a plant of very similar name] which is in the Plantain family.

Not to be confused with: Phlox. Flax and Phlox are quite different flowers, Phlox being a low-growing garden ground-cover plant with five petals similarly coloured.

A very short but ubiquitous plant that colonizes short limestone turf. Its stems are very thin and wiry, with a few branches. The flowers are small, about 5mm across, with 5 white petals, 5 yellow stamens and 5 pale yellow anthers adorn the centre.

Fairy Flax (aka Purging Flax) contains the same toxic cyanogenic glycoside Linamarin as does Cultivated Flax.


  Linum catharticum  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Linaceae  

Distribution
family8Flax family8Linaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8linum
Linum
(Flaxes)

FAIRY FLAX

PURGING FLAX

Linum catharticum

Flax Family [Linaceae]  

WildFlowerFinder Homepage