LXXX. 



LINUM CATHARTICUM. 



Purging Flax, or Mill-Mountain. 



Class, &c. — See Common Flax. 



Spec. Chae. Leaves opposite, oblong. Stem dichoto- 

 raous above. Petals acute. 



SYNONYMES. 



'Linum pratense flosculis exigiiis. Bauh, Pin. 214. 

 Linum sylvestre catharticum. Ger. Em. 560. 

 ^ . j , Chamaelinuni Clusii flore albo, sive L. sylvestre catharticum. 



'■' I Park Theatr. 1306. 



I Linum catharticum. Lin. Sp. PI. 401. Engl. Fl. ii. p. 119. 



*- Eng. Bot. t. 382. 



French Lin purgatif. 



Italian .... Lino purgativo. 

 Spanish.... Cantilagua. 

 Portuguese. Linho purgante. 

 German .... Purgierflachs. 



Dutch Purgeer-Vlas. 



Danish .. . . Liven vildhcer. 

 Swedish.. .. Vilhoer. 



Description. — The root is annual, very small, woody, taper- 

 ing, few-fibred, sending vip several delicate, straight, round, 

 smooth stems, bowed at the base, then upright and simple, 

 dichotomous upwards, from two to six inches in height. The 

 leaves are opposite, sessile, upright, elliptical, smooth, obtuse 

 with a slight point, entire, glaucous beneath. The flowers are 

 terminal, solitary, on long peduncles, forming a kind of panicle 

 at the top of the stem, gracefully drooping before expansion. 

 The sepals are ovate-oblong, acuminate, serrated, smooth, with 

 a solitary nerve. The five petals are obovate, acute, spreading. 



