FLAX FAMILY. Linacese. 



FLAX FAMILY. Linacece. 



A small family mostly composed of not very tall herbs, 

 slender and frail flowered, but remarkable for having 

 furnished the world with linen from time immemorial. 

 The perfect, symmetrical flowers (of the genus Linum) 

 have five petals, sepals, styles, and stamens ; the petals 

 before expansion are rolled-up. The fruit is usually in a 

 capsule. Mostly fertilized by the smaller bees and bee- 

 like flies. 



A smooth perennial, with small yellow 

 Wild Yellow _ . ,. /',*. 



F j ax flowers terminating slender branches ; the 



Linum five tiny yellow petals scarcely give the 



Virginianum flower a width of -^ inch. The small 



Yellow leaves are lance-shaped, thin, and one- 



June-August -i T n rrn , i j l 



ribbed. The sepals are ovate and pointed. 



1-2 feet high. Dry woodlands, and shady places, 



throughout the north, and south to Ga. 



A somewhat similar species, but an an- 



sulcatum nual with a usually simple stem and alter- 



nate leaves ; the stem corrugated, at least 



above, the sharp, lance-shaped leaves three-ribbed, and 



the yellow flowers a full half-inch broad. 1-2 feet high. 



In dry soil from E. Mass., west to the Great Lakes, 



through the mountains south to Ga., and southwest to 



Tex. Rare along the seacoast. 



A rather delicate-appearing and pretty 

 Common Flax .. rr 



Linum annual adventive from Europe or escaped 



usitatissimum from cultivation ; it has been under culti- 

 Light blue= vation since prehistoric times for its linen 

 violet fibre and its geed oil The stem erec t, 



be" 6 " branching, and ridged, the alternate leaves 



lance-shaped, sharp, and three-ribbed. The 

 delicate blue-violet flowers, f inch broad, with five 

 slightly overlapping petals, are fertilized mostly by the 

 honeybee. 9-20 inches high. Along roadsides, by rail- 

 ways, in cultivated fields, and in waste places. 



A very similar species also introduced 

 Linum humile f ^ m Europe, but the stem not as tall ; the 

 seed capsule opening by partitions which are hairy -edged 

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