Linum arboreum, L.

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1981, Flora Europaea. Volume 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae, Cambridge University Press : 206

1. L. arboreum L. , Sp. Pl. 279 (1753).

Glabrous shrub up to 1 m. Leaves (5-)10-20x 3-10 mm, spathulate, thick, persistent, 1-veined, with cartilaginous margins, often crowded in more or less dense rosettes. Inflorescence usually few-flowered, rather compact. Sepals 5-8 mm, lanceolate, acuminate, not cibate. Petals 12-18 mm, yellow. Capsule (5—)6—8 x 5-6 mm, beaked, about equalling sepals. Limestone rocks. S. Aegean region. Cr Gr. (£. W. Anatolia and Rodhos.)

L. caespitosum Sibth. & Sm. , FI. Graec. Prodr. 1: 216 (1806), is smaller in all its parts, particularly the sepals (4-5 mm), but otherwise does not differ from 1. It occurs in Kriti, mainly on conglomerate rocks. L. doerfleri Rech. fil. , Österr. Bot. Zeitschr. 84: 147 (1935), also described from Kriti, differs from 1 in its minutely serrulate (not entire) sepals and somewhat smaller capsule. The status of both these variants is doubtful.