SMALL-SEEDED FALSE FLAX
File Size: 71 KB
 
Camelina microcarpa  Andrz. ex  DC.
Jewell County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 12-30 inches
Family: Brassicaceae - Mustard Family
Flowering Period:   May, June
Also Called: Littlepod, smallseed falseflax.
Stems: Erect, unbranched or branched above, rough-hairy, lower stem with long hairs, upper stem less hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sesile, lower leaves clasping, linear to lanceolate or arrow-shaped, 1-3 inches long, rough-hairy; margins nearly entire or slightly toothed, basal rosette usually withered at flowering.
Inflorescences: Raceme, 2-12 inches long, elongating with maturity, many-flowered, terminal.
Flowers: Sepals 4, erect, hairy, tips mostly rounded; petals 4, spatulate, about 1/6 inch long, pale yellow; stamens usually 6; filaments linear; athers ovate; 2 short stamens flanked at base by pair of tiny glands.
Fruits: Silicle (pod), pear-shaped, about 1/4 inch long; beak thread-like; stalk about 1/2 inch long; seeds few to several in each cell, oblong, ridged, reddish-brown.
Habitat: Fields, waste places, roadsides, and disturbed sites; usually sandy soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Origin: Small-seed false flax is native to Europe, was introduced to the U.S. in flax seed, and is now naturalized.
Forage Value: Birds that forage on the ground eat the seeds.
Uses: The Apache boiled and ate the seeds and used them to make flour.

Small-seeded false flax silicles
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