View source for Linnaea

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Caprifoliaceae
|genus=Linnaea
|species=borealis
|common_name=Twinflower
|habit=shrub
|Min ht metric=cm
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=Linnaea borealis.jpg
|image_width=240
}}
{{Inc|
Linnaea (named after Linnaeus, at his own request; it was his favorite flower). Caprifoliaceae. Twin- Flower. Ornamental hardy plant grown sometimes for its delicate pink or purplish flowers.

Evergreen trailing subshrub: lvs. opposite, small, crenate, petioled, without stipules: fls. in pairs on slender upright peduncles; calyx 5-parted; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed; stamens 4; ovary 3-celled: fr. dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded. — Only one species in the colder regions of the northern hemisphere. There is an interesting monograph of this variable species by Wit- trock in Acta Hort. Berg. 4, No. 7, 187 pp., 13 pl. (1907), where about 150 varieties are described and figured.

The twin-flowers are half-woody plants with trailing slender thread-like stems, small, usually roundish persistent leaves and slender-stalked, nodding, pinkish or nearly white, campanulate twin flowers. They are hardy North and are graceful, dainty plants for rockeries, preferring a shaded moist position and porous, peaty or humous soil. Propagation is usually by division or by cuttings of soft or half-ripened wood under glass.

For L. floribunda, Braun & Vatke, and other species, see Abelia.
}}

'''''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&nbsp;[[centimetre|cm]] long, with opposite [[evergreen]] rounded oval [[leaf|leaves]] 3-10&nbsp;[[millimetre|mm]] long and 2-7&nbsp;mm broad. The flowering stems curve erect, to 4-8&nbsp;cm tall, leafless except at the base; the [[flower]]s are paired, pendulous, 7-12&nbsp;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 [[forest]]s, extending further south at high altitudes in [[mountain]]s, 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. 

In [[Great Britain]], the twinflower grows in mainly open [[pine]] woodlands in [[Scotland]] and northernmost [[England]]. [[Forester]]s consider this plant to be an [[indicator species]] of [[ancient woodland]]s, 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.

==Cultivation==
<!--- Type cultivation info below this line, then delete this entire line -->

===Propagation===
<!--- Type propagation info below this line, then delete this entire line -->

===Pests and diseases===
<!--- Type pest/disease info below this line, then delete this entire line -->

==Species==
Linnaea borealis 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

==Gallery==
{{photo-sources}}<!-- remove this line if there are already 3 or more photos in the gallery  -->

<gallery>
Image:Linnaea_borealis_15030.JPG
Image:Twinflower.jpg
Image:Illustration Linnaea borealis0.jpg
</gallery>

==References==
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608  -->

==External links==
*{{wplink}}

{{stub}}
__NOTOC__