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| Linnaea borealis L. | ||||||||||||||
Linnaea borealis, commonly known as Twinflower (sometimes written twin flower) is a woodland subshrub, treated either in the family Caprifoliaceae, or sometimes in its own family Linnaeaceae. The stems are slender, pubescent and prostrate, growing to 20-40 cm long, with opposite evergreen rounded oval leaves 3-10 mm long and 2-7 mm broad. The flowering stems curve erect, to 4-8 cm tall, leafless except at the base; the flowers are paired, pendulous, 7-12 mm long, pale pink with a five-lobed corolla.
Its common name is from the paired flowers. It is one of few species to be named after Carolus Linnaeus, the naming having been formally made by Linnaeus' teacher, Jan Frederik Gronovius. It is said to have been Linnaeus' favourite plant; he took the flower as his own personal symbol when he was raised to the Swedish nobility in 1757. Of it, Linnaeus said "Linnaea was named by the celebrated Gronovius and is a plant of Lapland, lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief time - from Linnaeus, who resembles it".
It has a circumpolar distribution in moist subarctic to cool temperate forests, extending further south at high altitudes in mountains, in Europe south to the Alps, in Asia south to northern Japan, and North America south to northern California and Arizona in the west, and Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains in the east.
It is the only species in its genus, but there are three recognised subspecies:
- Linnaea borealis subsp. borealis - Europe
- Linnaea borealis subsp. americana - North America
- Linnaea borealis subsp. longiflora - Asia
The flower is the provincial emblem of Småland in Sweden, Linnaeus' home province.
In Great Britain, the twinflower grows in mainly open pine woodlands in Scotland and northernmost England. Foresters consider this plant to be an indicator species of ancient woodlands, often found in association with Creeping Lady's Tresses. It is listed as "nationally scarce". It is found in about 50 sites around the country, with most situated in the woods around the Cairngorms; the southernmost locations are four sites in Northumberland and one in County Durham. The sparseness of the sites is responsible for the continued decline of the flower in the country.
The twinflower has given its name to the popular Swedish feminine given name Linnéa or Linnea (pronounced [line:´a]).
References
- The Linnaeus Link Project in the spring 2005 edition of Nature First, the magazine for Natural History Museum members.
- Species and habitat conservation from Plantlife.org.uk [1] and [2]
- Twinflower species profile [3]
