Linaceae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s. The family is

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

, and includes about 250 species in 14 genera, classified into two subfamilies: the Linoideae and Hugonioideae (often recognized as a distinct family, the Hugoniaceae). Leaves of the Linaceae are always simple; arrangement varies from alternate (most species) to opposite (in ''Sclerolinon'' and some ''Linum'') or whorled (in some ''Hesperolinon'' and ''Linum'' species). The

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

actinomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

flowers are

pentameric A pentamer is an entity composed of five sub-units. In chemistry, it applies to molecules made of five monomers. In biochemistry, it applies to macromolecules, in particular to pentameric proteins, made of five proteic sub-units. In microbiolo ...

or, very rarely,

tetramer A tetramer () ('' tetra-'', "four" + '' -mer'', "parts") is an oligomer formed from four monomers or subunits. The associated property is called ''tetramery''. An example from inorganic chemistry is titanium methoxide with the empirical formula ...

ic (e.g., ''Radiola linoides'', ''Linum keniense''). In the Linoideae, the largest genus is ''

Linum ''Linum'' (flax) is a genus of approximately 200 species''Linum''.
The Jepson Manual.

'', the flaxes, with 180–200 species including the cultivated flax, ''Linum usitatissimum''. Members of the Linoideae include herbaceous annuals and perennials, as well as woody subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees (''Tirpitzia'') inhabiting temperate and tropical latitudes of Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The largest genus of the Hugonioideae is ''Hugonia'' (about 40 species); the Hugonioideae are woody vines, shrubs, and trees, and are almost entirely tropical in distribution. In addition to their growth habits and geographic distributions, the Linoideae and Hugonioideae can be differentiated by the number of fertile stamens (five in the Linoideae, 10 in the Hugonioideae) and fruit type (capsules in the Linoideae, fleshy drupe-like fruits in the Hugonioideae). Genera in subfamily Linoideae *''

Anisadenia ''Anisadenia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Linaceae. Its native range is Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibet ...

'' Wall. ex Meisn. (2 sp.) *'' Hesperolinon'' (Gray) Small (13 sp.) *''

Linum ''Linum'' (flax) is a genus of approximately 200 species''Linum''.
The Jepson Manual.

'' L. (approximately 200 species) *'' Radiola'' Hill (1 sp.) *''

Reinwardtia ''Reinwardtia indica'', yellow flax or pyoli, is a species of Linaceae found in the Himalayas. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Reinwardtia''. Distribution This flower comes from Himalayas in both China and northern India. Uses ...

'' Dumort. (1 sp.) *'' Sclerolinon'' C.M.Rogers (1 sp.) *''

Tirpitzia ''Tirpitzia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Linaceae. It is also in the subfamily ''Linoideae''. Its native range is southern China to Vietnam and Taiwan. The genus name of ''Tirpitzia'' is in honour of Alfred von Tirpit ...

'' Hallier f. (3 sp.) Former genera; ''Cliococca'' (synonym of ''Linum'' L.) Genera in subfamily Hugonioideae *''

Hebepetalum ''Hebepetalum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Linaceae. Its native range is Southern Tropical America. Species: *''Hebepetalum humiriifolium'' *''Hebepetalum neblinae'' *''Hebepetalum roraimense ''Hebepetalum'' is a ...

'' Benth. (3 sp.) *'' Hugonia'' l. (6 sp.) *''

Indorouchera ''Indorouchera'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Linaceae. It only contains one species, ''Indorouchera contestiana'' (Pierre) Hallier f. Its native range is Cambodia to Vietnam and Borneo. Description A liana th ...

'' Hallier f. (1 sp.) *''

Roucheria ''Roucheria'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Linaceae. Its native range is Nicaragua to southern Tropical America. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil (northern, north-eastern and west-central), Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana ...

'' Planch. (7 sp.) Former genera; ''Durandea'' (synonym of Hugonia L.,) and ''Philbornea'' (synonym of Hugonia L.) Under the old

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) ...

of classifying the flowering plants, the Linaceae were placed in their own order, the

Linales Linales is a botanical name of an order of flowering plants. The Cronquist system used this name for an order placed in subclass Rosidae with the following circumscription in 1981: * order Linales *: family Erythroxylaceae *: family Humiriaceae ...

. Modern classifications place them in the order

Malpighiales The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 36 families and more than species, about 7.8% of the eudicots. The order is very diverse, containing plants as different as the willow, violet, poinsett ...

References

External links

*
Linaceae in Topwalks

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q155951 Malpighiales families