ii8 fi.owi:rs ok thk cornkiki.ds 



The llowc-rs, in a paniile, arc lilue and larL;c. Tlic; 5 se])als are 

 egg-shaped, acute, keeletl, 3-veined, and the 5 petals arc notched. 



The capsule is smooth within, rounded, with 5 valves, and blunt, 

 with a sharp point at the tip. The seeds are glossy, flattened at the 

 .side, the pods opening elastically. 



It is often 18 in. high. The (lowers bloom in June and July, h is 

 annual. 



l-'lax is like Purging l-'la\ in the position of the honey glands, 

 and the anther stalks are uniictl IjcIow and form a fleshy ring in the 

 hollow of the ovary, secreting droj^s of honey, which enlarge and 

 reach the sepals below, from 5 glands on the outer surface opposite 

 the stamens. The petals, which are much larger and IjIuc, are 

 attached to this tleshy ring just alxne the honey glands, and alternate 

 with the stamens, the lower halves of the petals touching, becoming 

 narrow at the base, and leaving a round opening just above the 

 honey gland. The 5 anthers empty their pollen at the same time as 

 the stigmas are ripe, and as the stigmas are on the same level, they 

 become dusted with pollen, though the anthers are at first some 

 distance from the stigmas, and thus avoid sclt-pollinating the plant. 

 When a visitor comes from another flower and inserts its proboscis 

 between the stigmas and anthers it cross-pollinates the flower, but if 

 it approaches from outside it presses the anthers against the stigma 

 and self-pollinates it. In the absence of insects the stamens bend 

 inwards. 



The visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidie, Apis mc///Jica, Halictits 

 cyliiidriciis) and Lepidoptera Siher ^' Moth i^Phisia ganniia). 



The seeds of Fla.x are dispersed by the plant's own agency. The 

 fruit is 5-celled, and divided into 2 chambers occasionally. The outer 

 seed coat swells when moistened and glues the seeds to the ground. 

 When ripe and dry the capsule opens by 10 slits, and the seeds are 

 dispersed round the parent plant. 



It is more or less a lime-loving plant, growing" on a lime soil in 

 chalk and limestone districts, but it is also at home on sand and gravel, 

 which are also largely associated with both formations. 



The fungi Flax rust, Mclaiiipsora lini, and Flax wilt, Fitsariuni 

 lini, attack Flax. 



The beetles Aphthona aip/wrbur. A. viirscciis. Melolontha vulgaris, 

 and the moths Silver Y Moth {Plitsia gainma). Broom Moth {Mamcstra 

 pisi). Sword-grass (Calocauipa exolcia), feed upon it. 



Lininn, Theophrastus, is the Greek linon. Flax is cognate with 

 the German Jiachs, and may be from the Latin fdiiiii, a thread, Jilarc, 



