LINACEAE 39 



branched above. Radical leaves short, spatulate-obovate ; stem-leaves about an inch 

 long, sometimes opposite. Flowers pale yellow, racemose on the branches. 

 Hob. Woods, and thickets: frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Aug. . ^, : , 



. L. USITATIS'SIMUM, L. Leaves lance-linear, very acute; flowers 

 on long pedicels ; capsules globose, mucronate. 

 MOST USED, OR USEFUL LixuM. Common Flax. 



Annual. Stem 2 to 3 feet high, solitary. Leaves an inch to an inch and half 

 long, numerous, scattered. Flowers blue, large, loosely corymbose. Seeds lance- 

 ovate, brown, smooth and shining. 

 Sab. Fields. Nat. of Europe. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This plant once considered so indispensable among the 

 crops of our farmers is now rarely cultivated. The Cotton-plant, 

 of the South, has nearly banished the Flax from this region ; though 

 some attempts are now being made, among Manufacturers, to in- 

 crease the use of Flax, by improving the manipulations of its fibres. 

 The Farmers, however, will not be anxious to resume the culture ; 

 for the crop is one which involves a good deal of disagreeable labor, 

 and is, moreover, believed to be injurious to the soil: an opinion as 

 old as the time of VIRGIL who says : 



" Urit enim Lini campum Seges, urit avenae." Georg. 1. 71. 

 or, as rendered by SOTHEBY, 



" Oats and the Flaxen Harvest burn the ground." 

 Doctor DARWIN refers to the Flax, in the following strains : 



" Inventress of the Woof, fair LINA flings 



The flying shuttle through the dancing strings; 



Inlays the broider'd weft with flowery dyes, 



Quick beat the reeds, the pedals fall and rise: 



Slow from the beam the lengths of warp unwind, 



And dance and nod the massy weights behind. 



Taught by her labors, from the fertile soil 



Immortal Isis clothed the banks of Nile ; 



And fair ARACHNE with her rival loom 



Found, undeserved, a melancholy doom." 



"Isiswas said to have invented spinning and weaving, mankind before that 

 time being clothed with the skins of animals. The fable of ARACHNE was to com- 

 pliment this new art of spinning and weaving, supposed to surpass in fineness the 

 web of the spider." 



The seeds of this plant beside yielding a most valuable oil 

 afford one of the best mucilaginous drinks, for coughs, and dysen- 

 teric affections. 



ORDER XXL GERANIACEAE. 



Herbs, or suffruticose plants, with tumid nodes ; leaves mostly opposite and palmate, 

 lobed, stipulate; flowers symmetrical, hypogynous, pentamerous; sepals imbricated ; 

 petals convolute; stamens 10, slightly monadelphous at base, the alternate ones 

 shorter ; pistils 5, adhering to a central prolonged axis, from which they separate 

 at maturity by curving up from the base ; seeds solitary, without albumen. 



This Order comprises, amongst others, the numerous and favorite plants, so 

 much cultivated under the name of " Geraniums," though they now belong to 

 the genus Pelargonium. 



69. GERANIUM, L. 



[Gr. Geranos, a crane; the beaked fruit resembling a crane's bill.] 

 Stamens all perfect, the 5 longer ones with glands at base. Styles 

 cohering at summit, recurved from below, but not twisted, in the 

 ripe fruit, smooth inside. 



