Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Nuttall's Linanthus
Leptosiphon nuttallii
Phlox family (Polemoniaceae)

Flax Flower (Leptosiphon nuttallii) grows from 4-14 inches tall in either a compact or open form. Numerous plants are often found near each other. Leaves are divided into narrow segments and are bright green; the numerous flowers are brilliant white. In some regions of the country, this is a common plant from high desert to . Asa Gray named this species Gilia nuttallii in 1870 from a specimen collected by famed botanist and professor, Thomas Nuttall, in southeast Idaho in the early 1800s. Joseph Ewan renamed the species Linanthastrum nuttallii in 1942, and Porter and Johnson named it Leptosiphon nuttallii.


©2005 Stan Shebs

Description

almost shrubs, woody at the base, to about 14" tall. Clump forming, compact to open. Herbage hairy or . , cleft 5-9 times, the to . Flowers almost . tube to 2/5" long, white, the 1/5 to 1/3" long spreading. a to 1/5" long.

Field Marks

Mass of shining, finely cut green leaves covered in very white flowers.

© Al Schneider

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

sessile -- attached without a stalk. For example, a leaf that clasps the stalk. A petiolate leaf has a stalk.

montane -- inhabiting mountainous country but below timberline.

oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.