Linum lewisii var. lewisii

Lewis' flax

Family: Linaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Lewis' flax is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province, northern Mojave Desert, Western and Inyo Mountains in generally dry open mountain and foothill areas at elevations to 3,660 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces blue flowers occasionally white or mottled, with delicate petals 6 to 15 millimeters long in obovate shapes. Growing with slender stems 5 to 80 centimeters tall, it features a glabrous (smooth) appearance with no stem hair. Its leaves are narrow and linear to lanceolate, measuring 10 to 20 millimeters long and appearing smooth and glabrous. The fruit develops into small 5 to 6 millimeter wide segments containing dark brown to black seeds.

Habitat: Generally dry open areas in mountains, foothills

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 3660 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, MP, W&ampI, D

California counties: Lassen, San Bernardino, Calaveras, Inyo, San Diego, Mono, Siskiyou, Kern, Riverside, Placer, Amador, Plumas, Butte, Modoc, Trinity, Lake, Alpine, Shasta, Sierra, Tuolumne, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Humboldt, Nevada, San Benito

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.