Blue Flax
Linum lewisii
Color: Pale blue to lavender or white
Common name: Blue Flax, Lewis Flax
Latin name: Linum lewisii
Family: LINACEAE
Height: 2 feet
Description: The flowers are 1.5–3 cm diameter, with five petals on a smooth stem. The 4–6 mm sepals are egg-shaped.
Leaf: The 1–2 cm long blue-green needlelike leaves are spirally arranged.
Range: Desert, California Floristic Province, n East of Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains
Habitat: Dry open ridges, slopes
Elevation: 400–3000 m.
Flowering time: May-Sept
Notes: Linum lewisii is extremely durable, even aggressive, in favorable conditions, successfully seeding even into established lawns. The plant, a dicot, is a perennial herb that is native to California and is also found elsewhere in North America and beyond. This photo was taken on May 7, 2005 in the New York Mountains in the Mojave National Preserve, San Bernardino County, California.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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