Linum usitatissimum

Common flax

Family: Linaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Common flax is a naturalized annual herb found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, central and southern coastal areas, and southern deserts in disturbed areas and abandoned agricultural sites at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces distinctive blue (occasionally white) flowers with petals 10 to 15 millimeters long. Growing 20 to 100 centimeters tall with smooth, upright stems, it develops an elegant, slender form. Its leaves are narrow and linear to lance-shaped, alternately arranged along the stem and measuring 10 to 40 millimeters in length. The fruit is a capsule approximately 5 to 10 millimeters wide, containing brown seeds 4 to 6 millimeters long.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, abandoned cultivated sites

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NW, SNF, GV, CW, SW, D (exc DMtns)

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