| Author | (Planchon) Trelease | |
| Distribution | The southern 40% of the Coastal Plain. Ranges north to Pitt and Harnett counties. Note that the range for this taxon in RAB (1968), listed there as L. virginianum var. floridanum, includes a large number of records for the Piedmont and southern Mountains. However, this species is limited in NC to the Coastal Plain, based on review of specimens and following Weakley's (2018) range maps.
This species is a Southern Coastal Plain one, ranging from eastern NC south to southern FL and west to LA. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common to locally common in the coastal counties, but less numerous westward. | |
| Habitat | This is a species of mainly acidic wetlands, mostly associated with pinelands, such as pine savannas, wet pine flatwoods, and sandhill seeps. It does grow in some uplands, but still associated with pine stands. | |
| Phenology | Blooms and fruits from June to October. | |
| Identification | The Linum species are quite difficult to identify, especially as many of the former varieties and subspecies have now been elevated to full species. All are erect herbs to 1-2 feet tall, with slender branches that are usually ascending, small and narrow leaves, and numerous scattered small yellow flowers (with 5 petals) along the upper portions of the branches. This species is extremely similar to L. curtissii, as both species were formerly included within a single species -- L. virginianum. From Weakley's (2018) flora: "Fruit as long as broad or longer", as opposed to "Fruit broader than long" in L. curtissii. It can be separated from L. intercursum by the leaves 1.3-2.0 mm wide, as opposed to leaves 2.3-4.3 mm wide in the other species; mostly 50-165 leaves below the inflorescence, as opposed to mostly 25-50 leaves below the inflorescence, and a few other characters, in L. intercursum, based on Weakley (2018). L. intercursum grows mainly in uplands, whereas L. floridanum tends to grow mostly in wetlands. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Many older references had this species included within L. virginianum, as L. virginianum var. floridanum. Weakley (2018) gives two varieties for the species in NC, the more numerous being the nominate one -- var. floridanum, and also the scarce var. chrysocarpum.
Website editors have received much help in species boundaries and in identification from Rogers (1963, 1984). | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5? | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
