Common Flax

“Flax” is cultivated in the plains to c. 1900 m. alt. s. m. It is grown for its bast fibres from which linen cloth and ropes are made. Linseed oil, “Alsi-ka-tel”, is extracted from the seeds which are also medicinal, while the “seed-cake” is used for feeding cattle.

This species is used for fiber and oil.

Annual herb, 20 cm to 1 m tall. Stem erect, glabrous, branched at the base. Leaves alternate, linear to lanceolate, 1-3.5 cm long, 1.5-3 mm broad, 3-nerved. Flowers in corymbose racemes, blue; pedicel 1.5-2 cm long. Sepals imbricate, 5-8 mm long, ovate, acuminate, 3-nerved; margin white. Petals linear to lanceolate, c. 12 mm long, contorted. Stamens 5; staminodes absent; filament c. 8 mm long; anthers 2 mm long, bi-Lobed. Ovary ovoid, styles free, c. 3 mm long; stigma linear, 1.5 mm long. Capsule sub-globose, c. 1 cm long, beaked: seeds c. 5 mm long, ellipsoid, dark brown, shiny.

Annuals 30-120 cm tall. Stems simple, cylindric, erect, woody at base, apically corymbosely branched. Leaves alternate, linear, linear-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 2-4 cm × 1-5 mm, 3(or 5)-veined from base, base attenuate, apex acute. Flowers axillary, solitary or in broad cymes, 15-20 mm in diam. Pedicel 1-3 cm, erect. Sepals ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 5-8 mm, 3(or 5)-veined from base, nonglandular, margin entire or ciliate, apex acute to acuminate. Petals blue, rarely white or red, obovate, 0.8-1.2 cm. Styles distinct; stigma linear-clavate. Capsule globose, 6-9 mm in diam., septicidal, with 10 seeds. Seeds brown, oblong, flattened, 3.5-4 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 30.

Cultivated in temperate regions and in India, Kashmir, Tibet.

Distribution: Widely cultivated in Europe and Asia. Origin unknown but the plant has been in cultivation from prehistoric times.

150-3800 m

Fl. Per. Feb-May.

Cultivated throughout China except Hainan and Taiwan, sometimes naturalized [origin uncertain but possibly the Mediterranean region and/or parts of W Asia and W Europe, widely cultivated].

Linum humile Miller.