Grooved Yellow Flax
Linum sulcatum
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in prairies and grasslands; forests and woodlands; glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- 8–24 inches
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to somewhat dry
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- May to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 3 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock
Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.
Who uses this plant?
13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Linum
- Anticarsia gemmatalisVelvetbean Caterpillar Moth
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary, (?)Gulf Fritillary
- Euxoa auxiliarisArmy Cut-Worm, Army Cutworm
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Spodoptera albulaWhite-Spotted Armyworm, Gray-Streaked Armyworm
Show all 13
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Linum
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Linaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Height · “8–24 inches” · Minnesota Wildflowers (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun (6+ hours)” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “Dry-mesic; Dry” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

