From the Latin linum — flax, referring to the flax-like leaves of L. vulgaris.
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate above, in whorls below, simple, entire and usually narrow and stalkless. Flower clusters terminal, sometimes spike-like, or flowers solitary and axillary. Calyx with 5 deeply cut, unequal lobes, the lowest usually the longest. Corolla tube 2-lipped, cylindrical and with a basal spur, the throat closed by a hairy protuberance. Stamens 4, in 2 pairs. Fruit a spherical capsule opening at the tip and containing numerous seeds.
Perennials grown for the delicate flowers and leaves, some as groundcovers and others as annuals for bedding or as pot plants.
Annuals from seed, perennials from seed or by division.
Flowers spurred at the base on the upper surface of the corolla.
About 100 species from northern temperate regions.
De Wolf (1956), Sutton (1988).
Source: (2002). Scrophulariaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.