Fairy Flax - Linum catharticum
Also known as White Flax and as Purging Flax. Slender, low to short hairless plant, generally with a solitary stem. Leaves opposite, oblong to lanceolate and one veined. Flowers white with a yellowish centre, 4 to 6 mm, in lax branched clusters, nodding in bud. Sepals with glandular hairy margins.
Calcareous grassland, coastal dunes and grassy heaths.
Late May to September.
Annual
Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain.
Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 177 of the 617 tetrads.
Graham Calow
Ellistown
27 June 2011
David Nicholls
New Lount
27 September 2012
Ron.stevens
Ketton Quarry NR
30 June 2011
David Nicholls
Cloud Wood
24 June 2011
David Nicholls
Evington Park
25 May 2012
AJ Cann
Merry's Meadows
21 June 2015
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Species profile
- Common names
- Fairy Flax, Purging Flax
- Species group:
- Wildflowers
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Malpighiales
- Family:
- Linaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 70
- First record:
- 24/06/2011 (Nicholls, David)
- Last record:
- 10/09/2024 (Isabel Raval)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
Graham Calow
Broughton Astley Brick Quarry
25 June 2015
AJ Cann
Ketton Quarry
21 June 2015
David Nicholls
New Lount
27 September 2012
Alan Semper
Stonesby Quarry
26 June 2013
Alan Semper
Holwell Browns Hill Quarry
12 July 2013
Graham Calow
Ellistown
27 June 2011
Graham Calow
Ellistown
27 June 2011
David Nicholls
Cloud Wood
24 June 2011
Alan Semper
Holwell North Quarry NR
25 June 2014
AJ Cann
Merry's Meadows
21 June 2015
