LINUM USITATISSIMUM 



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producing anthers containing pollen. The anthers and pollen 

 in both the blue and white varieties of fiber flax are blue; but the 

 pollen is sometimes yellow in the oil flaxes, especially in the 

 Indian varieties; and the anther walls may be yellow or white. 

 On the outer side and at the base of each filament, there is a nectary 



Fig. 190. A, inflorescence; B, longitudinal view of flower with portion of perianth 

 removed ; C, stamens and pistil with perianth removed ; D, stamen ; E, mature fruit ; 

 F, floral diagram. 



at the lower end of a longitudinal groove. The anthers are introrse 

 and when the flowers close toward noon, the filaments are bent 

 inward so that the anthers contact the stigmatic surfaces, resulting 

 in self-pollination. The pistil has five distinct styles and stigmas, 

 but the carpels are undi verged at their bases. The ovary is five- 

 loculed, although it often looks ten-loculed because of the forma- 

 tion of false septa which develop on a line with the dorsal suture, 



