{{Short description|Plant species in the flax family}} {{Speciesbox | image = Linum lewisii, blue flax, Albuquerque.JPG | image_alt = Light blue flowers scattered over thin green stems in a field of tan grasses | image_caption = In Elena Gallegos Picnic Area, Albuquerque, NM | status = {{TNCStatus}} | status_system = TNC | status_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{Cite NatureServe |date=3 January 2025 |id=2.148027 |title=''Linum lewisii'' |access-date=24 January 2025}}</ref> | genus = Linum | species = lewisii | authority = Pursh | subdivision_ranks = Varieties | subdivision_ref = | subdivision = {{Species list | Linum lewisii var. alpicola |Jeps. | Linum lewisii var. lepagei | (B.Boivin) C.M.Rogers | Linum lewisii var. lewisii | }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=140855-2 |title=''Linum lewisii'' Pursh |access-date=24 January 2025}}</ref> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list | {{Species list | Adenolinum lewisii | (Pursh) Á.Löve & D.Löve | Linum perenne var. lewisii | (Pursh) Eaton & Wright | Linum perenne subsp. lewisii | (Pursh) Hultén | Linum sibiricum var. lewisii | (Pursh) Lindl. }} }} }}
'''''Linum lewisii''''' (''Linum perenne'' var. ''lewisii'') ('''Lewis flax''', '''blue flax''' or '''prairie flax''') is a perennial plant in the family Linaceae, native to western North America.
== Description == It is a slender herbaceous plant growing to {{convert|80|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}} tall, with spirally arranged narrow lanceolate leaves {{convert|1–3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long. The flowers are pale blue or lavender to white, often veined in darker blue, with five petals 1–1.5 cm long and in varying length styles.<ref name="Weeden">{{cite book |author=Norman F. Weeden |url=https://archive.org/details/sierranevadaflor00weed |title=A Sierra Nevada Flora |publisher=Wilderness Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780899972046 |edition=4th |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Klinkenberg2014">{{cite web | url= http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Linum%20lewisii | editor-last= Klinkenberg | editor-first= Brian | date= 2014 | title= ''Linum lewisii'' | website= E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. | publisher= Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver | accessdate= 2018-01-17 | archive-date= 2018-01-17 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180117132153/http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Linum%20lewisii | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="WTU Herbarium2015">{{cite web | url= http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Linum&Species=lewisii | editor-last= Giblin | editor-first= David | date= 2015 | title= ''Linum lewisii'' | website= WTU Herbarium Image Collection | publisher= Burke Museum, University of Washington | accessdate= 2018-01-17}}</ref><ref name="Jepson">{{cite web | url= http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=Linum%20lewisii | date= 2015 | title= ''Linum lewisii'' | website= Jepson eFlora: Taxon page | publisher= Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley | accessdate= 2018-01-17}}</ref> The flowers open in the morning and fade, dropping their petals by noon on hot, sunny days.<ref name="Jewels" /><gallery> File:Blue flax Linum lewisii flower close.jpg|The inflorescence is a terminal open raceme.<ref name="WTU Herbarium2015" /> File:Linum lewisii 9620.JPG|A lavender flower File:Linum lewisii 9746.JPG|The spirally arranged lanceolate leaves </gallery>
== Etymology == The species was named for North American explorer Meriwether Lewis.<ref name="Sagebrush">{{Cite book|last=Reiner|first=Ralph E.|title=Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies|publisher=Glacier Park, Inc.|year=1969|page=98}}</ref>
== Distribution and habitat == The plant is native to western North America from Alaska south to Baja California, and from the Pacific Coast east to the Mississippi River.<ref>[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LILE3 USDA Plant Profile: ''Linum lewisii'']</ref> It grows on ridges and dry slopes, from sea level in the north up to {{convert|11000|ft|abbr=off}} in the Sierra Nevada.<ref name="Sullivan2015">{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Steven. K. |date=2015 |title=''Linum lewisii'' |url=http://www.wildflowersearch.com/search?&PlantName=Linum+lewisii |accessdate=2018-01-17 |website=Wildflower Search}}</ref><ref name="PLANTS">{{cite web |date=2015 |title=''Linum lewisii'' |url=https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LILE3 |access-date=2018-01-17 |website=PLANTS Database |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture; Natural Resources Conservation Service}}</ref><ref name="Weeden" />
==Cultivation== Blue flax is a durable wildflower in garden conditions, never becoming overly aggressive towards other plants. Plants are easily grown from seed.<ref name="Jewels">{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Claude A. |title=Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills |date=1983 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-1127-0 |page=18}}</ref> Blue flax grows well in lean soils without much organic matter and are healthier in well-drained soils.<ref name="FineGardening">{{cite web |title=Blue flax |url=https://www.finegardening.com/plant/blue-flax-linum-lewisii |website=Fine Gardening |publisher=The Taunton Press, Inc. |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Commons}}
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lewisii Category:Flora of Subarctic America Category:Flora of Western Canada Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States Category:Flora of the South-Central United States Category:Flora of Arkansas Category:Flora of Baja California Category:Flora of Chihuahua (state) Category:Flora of Coahuila Category:Flora of Durango Category:Flora of Kansas Category:Flora of Minnesota Category:Flora of Nebraska Category:Flora of North Dakota Category:Flora of Nuevo León Category:Flora of Oklahoma Category:Flora of Ontario Category:Flora of San Luis Potosí Category:Flora of Sonora Category:Flora of South Dakota Category:Flora of Zacatecas Category:Drought-tolerant plants Category:Garden plants
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