LIN 



OH, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



LIN 



47 



Ihe flax is left till the seed is ripe, provided it does not stand too 

 long; but the colour of it will not be so good. Some recom- 

 mend sheep-feeding with the flax, when it is a good height, 

 and affirm that they will eat the weeds and grass, and do 

 the flax good ; and that if they should beat it down, that it 

 will rise again with the next rain. But this is a very wrong 

 practice, for if the sheep gnaw the flax, it will shoot up very 

 weak, and never attain to half the size it would have done 

 if it had not been cropped ; and if the sheep like the crop 

 better than the weeds, they will devour that, and leave the 

 weeds untouched. 



2. Linum Perenne ; Perennial Flax. Calices and capsules 

 blunt ; leaves lanceolate, quite entire. From its perennial 

 root arise three or four inclining stalks, having short narrow 

 leaves towards their base, but scarcely any about the top. 

 The flowers are produced at the ends of the stalks, sitting 

 very close; they are of a delicate texture, and very elegant 

 blue colour. Mr. Miller distinguishes the upright Siberian 

 plants. The stems of this are strong, in number according 

 to the size of the root, in height from three to five feet 

 according to the soil ; they divide into several branches at 

 top. The flowers are large, of a fine blue, appearing in 

 June, and are succeeded by obtuse seed-vessels, ripening in 

 September. He recommends the cultivating it for use; being 

 perennial, earlier, more productive, and yielding a stronger 

 though not so fine a thread. Native of Cambridgeshire, 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, and Northamptonshire, on calcareous pas- 

 tures. This flax has been tried, and answers very well for 

 making common strong linen, but the thread is not so fine or 

 white as that which is produced from the common sort; but 

 as the roots of this will continue many years, it will require 

 little other culture, but to keep it clean from weeds, which 

 cannot well be done, unless the seeds be sown in drills, that 

 the ground may be constanlly kept hoed to destroy the weeds 

 when young. This sort must have the stalks cut off close to 

 the ground when ripe, and then managed in the same way as 

 the common sort ; but it seldom produces more than three 

 crops that will pay for standing. 



3. Linum Monogynuui ; One-styled Flax. Calices acute ; 

 leaves linear-lanceolate, even ; stem round, shrubby, and 

 branched at the base ; flowers one-styled. Native of New 

 Zealand, in Queen Charlotte's Sound. 



4.. Linum Viscosum ; Clammy Flax. Leaves lanceolate, 

 hairy, five-nerved ; root woody, perennial. Native of Ger- 

 many. 



5. Linum Hirsutum; Hairy Flax. Calices hirsute, acu- 

 minate, sessile, alternate; branch-leaves opposite ; root woody, 

 perennial; stems round, simple, hairy, from a foot to two 

 feet in height ; flowers on very short peduncles ; petals blue, 

 marked with lines. Native of Austria and Hungary. 



0. Linum Narbonnense ; Nar bonne Flux. Calix acuminate; 

 leaves lanceolate, stiff, rugged, acuminate ; stem round, 

 branched at the base; filameuta connate ; root perennial ; stem 

 from a foot to eighteen inches high, branching out almost to 

 the bottom into many long slender branches; flowers at the 

 ends of the branches. Native of the south of France, Swit- 

 zerland, and Italy. It flowers from May to July. 



1. Linum Reflexuin; Reflex-leaved Flax. Calices acu- 

 minate ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, reflex, even ; 

 filatnenta connate ; stem a foot high, round, woody, branched 

 from the base ; flowers in a sort of umbel, large, blue. It 

 flowers in July. Native of the south of Europe. 



8. Linum Tenuifolium; Fine-leaved Flax. Calices acumi- 

 nate ; leaves linear, setaceous, rugged backwards ; root per- 

 eiuiial, woody, branching; stems ascending at the base ; flow- 

 ers in a sort of panicle, peduncled; petals rose-coloured, 

 70. 



purple, or white, nearly twice as long as the calix. Native 

 of the south of Europe. 



9. Linum Angustifolium ; Narrow-leaved Flax. Calix 

 obsoletelv three-nerved ; leaflets and capsule acuminate ; 

 leaves linear-lanceolate, three-nerved ; stems numerous, a 

 little inclined. This is very much allied to the first species. 

 Native of Cornwall and Devonshire, in dry sandy pastures, 

 especially near the sea. It is also found at Dorsham in 

 Suffolk ; Minster in the isle of Sheppey ; at Beacon Hill, and 

 Deal in Kent ; and near Hastings in Sussex. 



10. Linum Gallicum ; Annual Yellow Flax. Calices awl- 

 shaped, acute; leaves linear-lanceolate; peduncles of the 

 panicle two-fl.iwered ; flowers subsessile ; root annual ; flow- 

 ers yellow. Native of the south of France. 



11. Linum Maritimum ; Sea Flax. Calices ovate-acute^ 

 awnlcss ; leaves lanceolate, the lower ones opposite; root 

 perennial; stems herbaceous, round, almost upright, glaucous; 

 petals yellow. It flowers in July and August. Native of the 

 south of Europe and the Levant. 



12. Linum Alpinum ; Alpine Flax. Calices rounded-, 

 blunt; leaves linear, sharpish; stems declinate; root peren- 

 nial, branched; stems herbaceous, simple, half a foot or 

 more in length ; flowers peduucled, large ; petals pale blue. 

 Native of Austria, Piedmont, Dauphiny, and Silesia. 



13. Linum Austriacum; Austrian Flax. Calices rounded, 

 blunt ; leaves linear, sharp, straightish; root perennial, woody; 

 stems herbaceous, annual, from six to eighteen inches long ; 

 peduncles one-flowered ; petals white, purplish, blue or violet, 

 with darker lines and a yellow claw. It flowers in June and 

 July. Native of Austria and the Palatinate. 



14. Linum Virginianuni ; Virginian Flax. Calices acute, 

 alternate ; capsules awnless ; panicle difform ; leaves lanceo- 

 late ; root-leaves ovate ; stem filiform, a foot high, panicled ; 

 flowers on very short peduncles ; corollas yellow. Native of 

 Virginia and Pennsylvania. 



15. Linum Flavum ; Perennial Yellow Flax. Calices sub- 

 scrrate-rugged, lanceolate, subsessile ; panicle with dichoto- 

 moiis branches ; root perennial, woody ; stems herbaceous, 

 upright, from ; six to eighteen inches high ; flowers elegant, 

 upright, on short peduncles, at the end of the branches, and 

 at Ihc divisions of them. The flowers open most in the 

 morning, when the sun shines, and continue in succession 

 during June, July, and part of August. 



1C. Linum Strictum ; Upright Flax. Calices awl-shaped; 

 leaves lanceolate, stiff, mucronate, rugged at the edge. This 

 is an annual plant, with an upright stalk nearly a foot and 

 half high. Native of the south of France, Spain, and Sicily. 



17. Linum Suffruticosum ; Shrubby Flax. Leaves linear, 

 acute, rugged ; stems suffruticose. This has a shrubby stalk, 

 a foot high, sending out several branches ; flowers at the ends 

 of the branches, erect, on long slender peduncles; petals 

 large, entire, white, but before the flowers open pale yellow. 

 They appear in July, but the seeds seldom ripen in England. 

 Native of Spain, about Aranjuez, but common in the king- 

 dom of Valencia. 



18. Linum Arboreura ; Tree Flax. Leaves wedge-shaped ; 

 stems arborescent. This beautiful species forms (if not a 

 tree, as its name imports,) a shrub of the height of several 

 feet. It begins to flower in March, and continues flowering 

 to the close of summer, but has not yet produced seeds in 

 England. Native of the island of Candia. 



19. Linum Campanulatum. The base of the leaves dotted 

 glandular on both sides ; stem simple, a finger long. Native 

 of the south of France, and of Russia. 



** With opposite leaves. 



20. Linum Africanum; African Flax. Leaves linear-Ian - 

 N 



