FLAX FAMILY. Linaceae. 



FLAX FAMILY. Linacecn. 



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, sj-mmetrical 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 ^ , }:". ,11 1 ^1 



Pjg^ flowers termmatmg 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- 



ribbed. The sepals are ovate and pointed. 

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

 tliroughout the north, and south to Ga. 



A somewhat similar species, but an an- 

 sulcatnm ^^^^ 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 tiie Great Lakes, 

 through the mountains south to Ga., and southwest to 

 Tex. Rare along the seacoast. 



^ ^ A rather delicate-api^earing and pretty 



Common Flax , ^ .■ ^ n^ i 



J^l,^^^^,^ annual adventive from Europe or escaped 



11 sit at hsi mum from cultivation ; it has been under culti- 

 Light blue= vation since prehistoric times for its linen 

 '^'*^'^* fibre and its seed oil. The stem erect, 



jj"j. ^^ ^'"" 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 higli. Along roadsides, by rail- 

 ways, in cultivated fields, and in waste places. 



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