{{Short description|Plant species in the flax family}} {{Speciesbox | image = Linumperenne1.jpg | image_alt = Round blue flowers scattered over a green plant with thin stems in a garden | genus = Linum | species = perenne | authority = L. | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=544634-1 |title=''Linum perenne'' L. |access-date=24 January 2025}}</ref> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list | {{Species list | Adenolinum perenne | (L.) Rchb. | Adenolinum sibiricum | Rchb. | Linum alpestre | Bubani | Linum alpinum | Schangin | Linum brevisepalum | Juz. | Linum darmstadinum | Alef. | Linum decurrens | Kellogg | Linum elatum | Salisb. | Linum perenne | roseum Barr & Sugden | Linum sibiricum | DC. }} }} }}

'''''Linum perenne''''', the '''perennial flax''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |accessdate=2014-10-17 }}</ref> '''blue flax '''or '''lint''', is a flowering plant in the family Linaceae, native to Europe, primarily in the Alps and locally in England. It has been introduced into North America, where it can be found on mountain ridges, wooded areas, and in sandy plain habitats of the sagebrush steppe, growing near sagebrush and rabbitbrush (''Chrysothamnus'').<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=62|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}}</ref>

It is a slender herbaceous perennial plant growing to {{Convert|90|cm|ft|round=0.5}} tall from a fairly woody root crown, with tough, unbranched stems,<ref name=":0" /> and many spirally arranged narrow lanceolate leaves 1–2.5&nbsp;cm long. The flowers are blue, {{Cvt|2.5–5|cm|frac=4}} in diameter, and have five petals.<ref name=":0" /> The flowers will fall off if the stems are broken.<ref name=":0" />

The English populations are sometimes distinguished as ''Linum perenne'' subsp. ''anglicum'' and high altitude populations in the Alps as ''Linum perenne'' subsp. ''alpinum''. The similar western North American species ''Linum lewisii'' is sometimes treated as a subspecies of ''L.&nbsp;perenne''.

Native Americans used the stems to make fishing line and nets.<ref name=":0" />{{dubious|date=November 2021}}

==Cultivation== Cultivars for garden use include 'Blue Sapphire'.

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. Hodder & Stoughton. * Huxley, A. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' vol. 3: 93. Macmillan. * {{CalPhotos|Linum|perenne}} * {{PFAF|Linum perenne}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q159266}}

perenne Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of the Alps Category:Garden plants of Europe Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Malpighiales-stub}}