Flax Linum usitatissimum seed

LATIN NAME: Linum usitatissimum

COMMON NAME: Flax

The flax is the old blue crop of the cool fields, and the whole plant gives the linen and the seed oil of the old trade. The slender, upright, annual plant carries the narrow, pale-green leaves and the small, five-petalled, sky-blue flowers through the summer, one of the fine, blue sights of the cool field, to be followed by the small, round, brown seed capsules. The stem fibres and the seeds have a very long record as the linen and the linseed oil of the old trade, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the cool garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The flax is an old, fruitful subject of the plant science, and the sky-blue flowers keep showing up in the work on the fibre and the oil crops. The breeding of the flax for the fibre quality and the oil content has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the fibre crops, the omega-3 oilseeds and the members of the flax family. The narrow leaves and the slender, upright habit have also made it a fine field plant, and the flax is a regular subject of the work on the old fibre and oil crops of the cool world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The flax is a fine, historic plant of the cool field and the garden. The stem fibres have a very long record as the linen of the old trade, spun and woven into the fine, cool cloth, and the small, round, brown seeds give the linseed oil of the old practice and the modern kitchen, pressed and ground for the fine, nutty note of the seed. The small, sky-blue flowers open through the summer, one of the fine, blue sights of the field. It has been written up in the textile and the culinary papers for the linen and the golden oil, and it is a fine, long-cultivated plant of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.

The flax is one of the old fibre and oil crops of the cool fields, and the stem fibres spin into the linen of the old trade. The small, round, brown seeds give the golden linseed oil.

To grow the flax from seed, sow the small, flat seeds into a tray of moist, free-draining soil, without covering them, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings come through within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the blue flowers will open through the summer.

Uses: Industrial. Medicinal, edible