Lewis Flax
Linum lewisii
Found on a rocky slope close to Peppersauce Canyon, Sta. Catalina Mts., Pinal Co., Arizona. April 2012. The small insect at the end of the far petal is a thrips. Thrips are ubiquitous among the stamens and petals of many kinds of flowers.
LEAVES: The leaves are very narrow, almost linear with tappered tips.
RANGE: This is a familiar spring wildflower through much of the Mountain
West. It prefers gentle, open, sunny slopes and grasslands above the sycamore
canyons.
PERENNIAL HERB: Survives season to season from root system. In Arizona's
semi-arid habitats most plants are considerably shorter than
½ meter.
FLOWERS: Sky blue flowers have five petals and five cream yellow
stamens. The petals are free and also have darker blue parallel veins.
FRUIT: Dry capsules with often 10 seeds.
UNARMED