diff --git a/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/line_styles_reference.py b/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/line_styles_reference.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 58c72c6ff6fe..000000000000
--- a/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/line_styles_reference.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-"""
-====================
-Line-style reference
-====================
-
-Reference for line-styles included with Matplotlib.
-"""
-
-import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-
-
-# Plot all line styles.
-fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-
-linestyles = ['-', '--', '-.', ':']
-for y, linestyle in enumerate(linestyles):
-    ax.text(-0.1, y, repr(linestyle),
-            horizontalalignment='center', verticalalignment='center')
-    ax.plot([y, y], linestyle=linestyle, linewidth=3, color='tab:blue')
-
-ax.set_axis_off()
-ax.set_title('line styles')
-
-plt.show()
diff --git a/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/linestyles.py b/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/linestyles.py
index e62ceab6f7cb..50b2e6fcd7f4 100644
--- a/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/linestyles.py
+++ b/examples/lines_bars_and_markers/linestyles.py
@@ -3,50 +3,70 @@
 Linestyles
 ==========
 
-This examples showcases different linestyles copying those of Tikz/PGF.
+Simple linestyles can be defined using the strings "solid", "dotted", "dashed"
+or "dashdot". More refined control can be achieved by providing a dash tuple
+``(offset, (on_off_seq))``. For example, ``(0, (3, 10, 1, 15))`` means
+(3pt line, 10pt space, 1pt line, 15pt space) with no offset. See also
+`.Line2D.set_linestyle`.
+
+*Note*: The dash style can also be configured via `.Line2D.set_dashes`
+as shown in :doc:`/gallery/lines_bars_and_markers/line_demo_dash_control`
+and passing a list of dash sequences using the keyword *dashes* to the
+cycler in :doc:`property_cycle </tutorials/intermediate/color_cycle>`.
 """
 import numpy as np
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-from collections import OrderedDict
 from matplotlib.transforms import blended_transform_factory
 
-linestyles = OrderedDict(
-    [('solid',               (0, ())),
-     ('loosely dotted',      (0, (1, 10))),
-     ('dotted',              (0, (1, 5))),
-     ('densely dotted',      (0, (1, 1))),
+linestyle_str = [
+     ('solid', 'solid'),       # Same as (0, ()) or '-'
+     ('dotted', 'dotted'),    # Same as (0, (1, 1)) or '.'
+     ('dashed', 'dashed'),    # Same as '--'
+     ('dashdot', 'dashdot')]  # Same as '-.'
 
-     ('loosely dashed',      (0, (5, 10))),
-     ('dashed',              (0, (5, 5))),
-     ('densely dashed',      (0, (5, 1))),
+linestyle_tuple = [
+     ('loosely dotted',        (0, (1, 10))),
+     ('dotted',                (0, (1, 1))),
+     ('densely dotted',        (0, (1, 1))),
 
-     ('loosely dashdotted',  (0, (3, 10, 1, 10))),
-     ('dashdotted',          (0, (3, 5, 1, 5))),
-     ('densely dashdotted',  (0, (3, 1, 1, 1))),
+     ('loosely dashed',        (0, (5, 10))),
+     ('dashed',                (0, (5, 5))),
+     ('densely dashed',        (0, (5, 1))),
+
+     ('loosely dashdotted',    (0, (3, 10, 1, 10))),
+     ('dashdotted',            (0, (3, 5, 1, 5))),
+     ('densely dashdotted',    (0, (3, 1, 1, 1))),
 
-     ('loosely dashdotdotted', (0, (3, 10, 1, 10, 1, 10))),
      ('dashdotdotted',         (0, (3, 5, 1, 5, 1, 5))),
-     ('densely dashdotdotted', (0, (3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)))])
+     ('loosely dashdotdotted', (0, (3, 10, 1, 10, 1, 10))),
+     ('densely dashdotdotted', (0, (3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)))]
+
+
+def plot_linestyles(ax, linestyles):
+    X, Y = np.linspace(0, 100, 10), np.zeros(10)
+    yticklabels = []
+
+    for i, (name, linestyle) in enumerate(linestyles):
+        ax.plot(X, Y+i, linestyle=linestyle, linewidth=1.5, color='black')
+        yticklabels.append(name)
 
+    ax.set(xticks=[], ylim=(-0.5, len(linestyles)-0.5),
+           yticks=np.arange(len(linestyles)), yticklabels=yticklabels)
 
-plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
-ax = plt.subplot(1, 1, 1)
+    # For each line style, add a text annotation with a small offset from
+    # the reference point (0 in Axes coords, y tick value in Data coords).
+    reference_transform = blended_transform_factory(ax.transAxes, ax.transData)
+    for i, (name, linestyle) in enumerate(linestyles):
+        ax.annotate(repr(linestyle), xy=(0.0, i), xycoords=reference_transform,
+                    xytext=(-6, -12), textcoords='offset points', color="blue",
+                    fontsize=8, ha="right", family="monospace")
 
-X, Y = np.linspace(0, 100, 10), np.zeros(10)
-for i, (name, linestyle) in enumerate(linestyles.items()):
-    ax.plot(X, Y+i, linestyle=linestyle, linewidth=1.5, color='black')
 
-ax.set_ylim(-0.5, len(linestyles)-0.5)
-plt.yticks(np.arange(len(linestyles)), linestyles.keys())
-plt.xticks([])
+fig, (ax0, ax1) = plt.subplots(2, 1, gridspec_kw={'height_ratios': [1, 3]},
+                               figsize=(10, 8))
 
-# For each line style, add a text annotation with a small offset from
-# the reference point (0 in Axes coords, y tick value in Data coords).
-reference_transform = blended_transform_factory(ax.transAxes, ax.transData)
-for i, (name, linestyle) in enumerate(linestyles.items()):
-    ax.annotate(str(linestyle), xy=(0.0, i), xycoords=reference_transform,
-                xytext=(-6, -12), textcoords='offset points', color="blue",
-                fontsize=8, ha="right", family="monospace")
+plot_linestyles(ax0, linestyle_str[::-1])
+plot_linestyles(ax1, linestyle_tuple[::-1])
 
 plt.tight_layout()
 plt.show()