About Linum puberulum (Engelm.) Heller
Linum puberulum (Engelm.) Heller is a species of flax that goes by the common name plains flax. It is native to the western and midwestern United States, where its range extends from California to Nebraska to Texas. In this region, it grows in dry, open habitats, including desert, semi-desert, hills, and low mountains. This plant is a downy-haired perennial herb that grows an erect, branching stem. The stem is lined with glandular linear leaves that reach up to roughly 1 centimeter in length. Its inflorescence is a wide open cyme holding golden yellow to yellow-orange flowers; each flower has five petals that measure 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. The fruit it produces is a capsule approximately 4 millimeters wide. For the Zuni people, this plant has a recorded use: they squeeze the juice from its berry-like capsule into the eye to treat inflammation.
