Florida yellow flax Florida yellow flax

Cathartolinum macrosepalum Small

Flowers: anthers 0.5–1.2 mm. Capsules pyriform, 2–3 mm, walls relatively thin, apex obtuse. Seeds 1.6–2.1 mm. 2n = 36.

Flowering Jun–Oct. Open pine and pine-palmetto woodlands, pine savannas, sandhill seeps; 0–150 m; Ala., D.C., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.; West Indies (Jamaica).

According to C. M. Rogers (1984), var. floridanum can be distinguished from Linum intercursum by its completely developed false septa that lack cilia and by its more numerous leaves. It can be distinguished from L. medium var. texanum (often misidentified as L. floridanum) by its pyriform capsule. Rogers noted that L. floridanum has subspheric, multiporate pollen, whereas L. medium var. texanum has subtriangular, tricolpate pollen. The records from the District of Columbia and Texas require confirmation; the species is otherwise not known from north of North Carolina or west of central Louisiana (B. A. Sorrie, pers. comm.).