66 LINAGES. 



order the flowers have five sepals and five petals, which, like 

 the Mallows, are twisted when in bud, they are very perishable, 

 falling off with the slightest touch or puff of wind ; five sta- 

 mens united at the top of the ovary, and five stigmas. 



I have specimens of the common Flax (Lmum usitatissimum, 

 Plate V., fig. 1), from a field near Warminster, in Wilts ; 

 and I have occasionally seen a plot of it about Richmond, 

 cultivated I should imagine for its seeds. The petals are 

 notched, and of a lovely blue. The Latin name, signifying 

 "most useful," is justly applied to this plant; for the firm 

 fibres of its stem supply us with linen, the oil expressed from 

 its seed is valuable for mixing paint and other purposes, and 

 meal formed of the ground seed makes excellent poultices, and 

 is also used as a medicine. It is cultivated in Devonshire, 

 where Carrington describes it 



" How sweetly blows 

 Upon the slopes the azure-blossomed Flax ! " 



The Narrow-leaved Flax is more common as a wild plant. 

 Edward has brought specimens from Kent, Fanny from Somer- 

 setshire, and I from Yorkshire. The principal distinction be- 

 tween the species is the notch in the petals, which is present 

 in the common one and absent in this. The Narrow-leaved 

 Flax is even found in the Highlands of Scotland, and receives 

 there the name of the Lintbell. The simple and poetic in- 

 habitants of these lovely districts are close observers of nature, 

 and they not unfrequently reply to your questions in figurative 

 language worthy of the flowery parlance of the East. Thus, a 

 poor Highland woman, unable to read or write, could yet note 

 how the frail petals of the Flax unfolded in the sunshine 

 and closed when his rays were withdrawn ; she was ignorant 

 of everything, her one power being to accept and love the 

 blessings of God, from the " inestimable gift " of His Son 

 to that of the least flower that bloomed in her path. Being 

 questioned as to her adherence to the profound doctrines of 

 the Kirk, she showed such utter ignorance that the minister 



