Blue Flax

Throughout western North America and the Great Plains region, these sky-blue flowers dot grasslands and prairies extending as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico. The fibrous stems have a history of use by indigenous peoples for creating cordage, snowshoes, nets, mats, and baskets. The Latin name Linum lewisii first appears in Frederick Pursh's 1814 text Flora Americae Septentrionalis and refers to Meriwether Lewis who described the plant in an 1805 journal entry written during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Blue Flax will self-sow and perennialize in warmer regions.