W108 

 (leaf 2) 



least in European languages. Thus, Greek linon, Latin linum, Anglo- 

 Saxon linen, German leinen, and Swedish linne all refer to flax, or 

 the genus Limtm. Our English words "line" (literally, linen 

 thread), "linen", and "linseed" are derived, of course, from the same 

 etymological stem. 



Flaxes are common on sunny sites in the West, from the grass- 

 lands of the plains to the high mountains, and occur on well-drained 

 to dry soils. They are, as a class, low in forage value, and rate 

 from worthless to fair in palatability for sheep, somewhat lower for 

 cattle, and are seldom touched by horses. The yellow-flowered range 

 flaxes having terminal, headlike (capitate) stigmas, and glandular 

 sepals (genus C athartoli' num of some authors) may, on further 

 study, prove as a group to be more or less poisonous. Several of 

 them are under suspicion. One of these species, New Mexican flax 

 (Linum neomexica' num, syn. C. neomexica' nwin) , sometimes known 

 by the misleading name yellow pine flax, which grows in New Mex- 

 ico, Arizona, ancl Mexico, is definitely cataloged among the plants 

 dangerous to livestock. The first intimation that New Mexican flax 

 is poisonous developed in 1912, when Supervisor Roscoe G. Willson 

 reported the deaths of some horses on the Tonto National Forest, 

 Arizona, apparently due to this plant. The Bureau of Chemistry 

 and Soils was unable to detect poisonous compounds in this species 

 from analysis of material submitted in 1914 from that forest. In 

 his report on the analysis, Dr. C. A. Alsberg, then chief of the 

 Bureau, stated : "Species of Linum develop cyanogenetic glucosides 

 during the early stages of their growth, and it is quite likely that 

 poisonous substances occur in the New Mexican flax prior to the 

 fruiting period." Subsequent research 3 has definitely located a 

 toxic substance in this species, tentatively named "linotoxin." This 

 poison, although slow in action, is fatal if large enough quantities 

 are eaten under stipulated conditions. 3 Chesnut 4 indicates that 

 stiffstem flax (L. ri'gidum, syn. C. ri'gidum) , a southwestern species, 

 has poisoned sheep in the Pecos Valley, Texas. Linseed cake, the 

 byproduct which remains after linseed oil is extracted from the 

 seeds of cultivated flax (L. usitatis' simum) , is manufactured into 

 livestock feed. When fed in concentration to hogs and cattle, scours 

 and other digestive disturbances and sometimes even deaths have 

 resulted. 5 



Flaxseed contains about 40 percent linseed oil, which is used exten- 

 sively in paint and varnish production. 6 Linoleum and cork carpet 

 are made by compressing a mixture of ground cork and linseed oil 

 upon canvas. After the oil has been extracted from flaxseed the 



8 Eggleston, W. W., Black, O. F., and Kelly, J. W. LINUM NEOMEXICANUM (YELLOW 

 PINE FLAX) AND ONE OF ITS POISONOUS CONSTITUENTS. Jour. Agr. Research [U. S.] 41: 

 715718, illus. 1930. 



4 Chesnut, V. K. PRELIMINARY CATALOG OF PLANTS POISONOUS TO STOCK U S Dept 

 Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Ann. Kept. (1898) 15 : 387-420, illus. 1899. 



8 Pammel, L. H. A MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS CHIEFLY OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA, 



WITH BRIEF NOTES ON ECONOMIC AND MEDICINAL PLANTS , , 2 PtS.. illUS Cedar 



Rapids, Iowa. 1910-11. 



6 Bobbins, VV. W., and Ramaley, F. PLANTS USEFUL TO MAN. 428 pp., illus. Phila- 

 delphia. 1933. 



