3ifr PENTANDRIA. PENTAGYNIA. Linum. 



Matted Sea Lavender, or Thrift. On the Norfolk coast. 

 [At Wells, Norfolk, abundantly. Mr. Woodward.— At Blake- 

 ney. Messrs. Crowe and Pitchford.] P. July, August. 



LI'NUM. Cat. 5 -leaved : petals 5 : caps. 10- 



valved, (E. bot.) 10-celled: seeds solitary. 



(l) Leaves alternate. 



usitatis'sU L. Calyx and capsules dagger-pointed : petals scolloped : 

 mum. leaves spear-shaped : stern generally solitary. 



Curt. Zlb-Kntph. 9-Ludw. LU-Rlaci<w. l60. 2-Woodv. 

 m-Fuchs. 47 -J. B. iii. \;^\-Matth. MA-Dod. 533~Lob. 

 obs. 225. \-Ger. em. 556- //• ox. v. 26. row 2. \-Lonic. 

 153. 2-Blackw. 160. l-Trag. 353. 



Stem cylindrical. Petals sky blue, scored with deeper co- 

 loured lines. Filaments united at the base. Styles blue, thicker 

 towards the top. The inner edge of the cup a little fringed. ^ 



Common Flax. Corn fields and sandy pastures in Dorsetshire 

 and Devonshire. [Near Caws ton, Norfolk. Mr. Bryant. Corn 

 fields, Ripton, Huntingdonshire. Mr. Woodward. Downs, 

 old pastures, and corn fields, near to commons about Redruth 

 and Trclubbus, Cornwall. Mr. Watt.] A. July * 



peren'ne. L. Calyx and capsules blunt : leaves spear-shaped ; very 



entire. 



Var. 1. Upright. 



M 



Calyx leaves oval, hollow, with a short bluntish point at the 

 end, not fringed or hairy, marked with 5 lines. Bloss. blue. St. 



Perennial Flax. Pastures and meadows in a calcareous soil. 

 [Marham, Norfolk. Ixworth, Suffolk, Gograagog Hills. Mr. 



Woodward.] 



June, J 



«. * This valuable plant originally came from those parts of Egypt 



which are exposed to the inundations of the Nile. The steds yield, bf 

 expression only, a large proportion of oil, which is an excellent pectoral, 

 as is likewise the mucilaginous infusion- They make an easy ami useful 

 poultice in cases of external inflammation ; and they are the food of several 

 small birds. After the oil is expressed, the remaining farinaceous p<* rt ; 

 called Oil Cake, is given to oxen, who soon grow fat upon it. The »* 

 itself dificrs in several respects from pthoc expressed oils ; it does not con- 

 geal in winter, nor does it form a solid soap with fixed alkaline salts ; and 

 it acts more powerfully as a menstruum upon sulphureous bodies. "M* 

 heat is applied during the exprc ton it gets a yellowish colour, and a 

 peculiar smell. In this state it is used by the painters and the varnistaers. 

 The fibres of the stem are manufactured into Linen, and this Unen, v»nen 

 worn to rags, is made into paper. 



