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Chapter XII. 



Ordek XII.— LINEyE. (The Flax Family.) 



Chaeactek of the Oedek. — Herbs or under shrubs, 

 usually witli entire, iilternate leaves and sub-raeemose, hand- 

 some, lierniaphrodite, regular flowers. Sepals, 5, free, inibrieate. 

 Petals, 5, free, fugacious, contorted. Stamens, 5, li ypogvnoiis ; 

 filaments united below into a eup, which has usually 5 minute 



glands at its base ; anthers, versatile. Ovary, 3-5-eelled ; 

 styles, 3-5, stigmas terminal ; cells, 1- 2-ovuled. Capsule 

 splitting septicidally into indehiseent or dehiscent 1-2-seeded 

 cocci. Seeds with scanty albumen or none.— HaiidhoiA- of 

 the New Zealand Flora, p. 34. 



Description of the Order. — • 



ATHER a large order, abundant in Europe and Nortli Africa. The plants 

 yield mucilage and fibre. The flax {Linum iisitatisslmum) from Avhich the 

 linen of commerce is made, belongs to the Ncav Zealand genus, which is 



^, likewise a large European one. The name of the order is taken from the 



V Latin, meaning "a thread of flax." 



1. LINUM (Liim.) The Elax. 



Geneeic Chaeacteb. — Glabrous lierbs, with narrow, 

 quite entire leaves, fibrous bark, and usually large flowers. 

 Sepals, 5, entire. Stamens alternating with 5 setiform pro- 

 cesses of the staminal tube. Ovary, 5-celled j cells imperfectly 



divided by a longitudinal sejitum. Cocci, 5, septate, 2-secded 

 or 10, by each splitting along the septum. — Handbook of the 

 New Zealand Flora, p. 35. 



Description, etc. — This genus, which gives its name to the order Lineie, consists 

 only of herbs as far as relates to Ncav Zealand. In Europe the species are nvimerous, 

 and comprise some small shrubs. Very few of them are of any importance except 

 X. nsitatissimmn, the common annual Flax, which has been an object of cultivation from 

 the very earliest times. We read of Flax being grown at the time when the Israelites 

 were in Egypt. The seeds yield an oil by expression, which is known as linseed. 



