* 
a a a 
‘ ‘ 
ethiopicum, 8. tenue, E, Mey.! in pl. Drege. 
long, 14-2 lines wide) ; upper scattered ; corymbs lax and few-! 
sepals much acuminate, twice as long as the capsule (3 lines o1 
cea Kh. = bos jedi ad cuties in Hbs i 
€ s * 
Linum.] - LINEE (Sond.) 809 
scattered over the globe, but much more numerous in Europe and North Africa than 
in other countries. The common Flax (Linum usitatissimum ), so valuable for its 
strong and finely divisible fibres and its oily seeds, is by much the most useful plant 
of the Order. 
I. LINUM, L. 
Sepals 5, entire. Petals 5. Stamens 5, perfect, alternating with as 
inaiy tooth-like abortive filaments. Styles 5, rarely 3, separate or con- 
nate below; stigmata capitellate or linear. Capsule spuriously 10- 
celled. DC. Prod. 1. p. 423. Endl. Gen. 6056. 
Herbs or suffruticose plants, scattered throughout the temperate zones, rare within 
the tropics. Leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, quite entire and most frequently 
glabrous, sessile. Flowers in cymes or panicles, yellow, blue, red, or white. Name 
from Lin., thread, in Celtic and modern Gaelic. 
* Styles connate to the middle or above the middle. 
1. L. Africanum (Linn. Mant. p. 360); shrubby, glabrous ; leaves 
opposite, the upper alternate, either linear, lanceolate, oblong or ovate, 
acute; corymbs dichotomous, lax or contracted ; sepals ovate, acute or 
lanceolate, acuminate, glanduloso-ciliate, more or less longer than the — 
capsule, 
Var. a. angustifolium ; leaves lanceolate-linear or narrow-linear, 
" (5-12 lines long, 4-1 line wide) ; ; corymbs dichotomous, at length lax, 
and mostly elongate ; sepals cuspidato-acuminate, but little longer than | 
the capsule. Z, Africanum, Lin, Herb. Planch.! in Hook. Lond. Jour. 
7-p. 492. Thunb. Fl Cap. 277. Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 353. Bot. Mag. 
t. 403. HE. d Z.! 272, ex parte. L. juniperifolium, H. & Z. 1 271 Le 
africanum a, acuminatum, E. Mey.! Hb. Drege. L. pungens, Pl.!l. c. ex 
parte. L. adustum, E. Mey. a, 6, e. a 
Var. 8. intermedium ; leaves broadly lanceolate, aoe at see ae 
and apex (8-10 lines long, 14-2 lines ce 2 ; corymbs dichotomous, lax, 
at length elongate ; sepals lanceolate-ac ate, longer than the cap- 
sule. LZ. Afric. B. latifolium, Bartl. Linn. 7. p. 549. excl. syn. Thunb. 
L. Bartling, EB. & Z.1 273. — 
Var. y. litorale ; leaves crowded, more leathery, ovate, or ovate-ob- 
long, acute (4-6 lines long, 14-2 lines wide); corymbs contracted, more Hy 
frequently many and reaper iad flowered ; sepals cuspidate, little longer | 
than the capsule. LZ. Thunb. Fl. Cp. p. 277. E.& Zt 2 
ba and L. ‘apiconun, Bt éZ1 _—. L. ethiopicum, Pi.! le. 
Pp. 490. E. Mey. ! in Hb. Drege a, b, 
Var. 6. gracile; leaves more lates: See me or oblong, 
acute, the lower wor out 6 lines long, 1 8 lines wide) crowded, upper 
scattered, gradually smaller ; corymbs often few-flowered; sepals 
cuspidate, little longer than ‘the calyx. ri gracile, gb. C. p. 496. L. 
Var. « acuminatum; lower leaves oblong or lanceolata (5-6 lines 
