13. LINACEvE. 235 



199. LiNUM usiTATissiMUM, I^nu. 



Area (general). 



Alien. Having been much cultivated in Britain, and 

 more generally so in former days than at the present time, 

 the ' Flax ' has been often found as a straggler, and un- 

 wisely recorded as if a British species. In addition to cul- 

 tivation, there is another source from which it is propagat- 

 ed around London ; namely, by bird-catchers, who carry 

 the seeds of the flax and canary-grass to feed their call- 

 birds, or for some other purpose, snd scatter them on 

 commons, by way-sides, &c. ; where they vegetate, but 

 keep no permanent hold of the ground, so as to form good 

 habitats, even as naturalizations. 



200. LiNOM PERENNE, Linn. 



Area 1 *^3j4 [5] * * 8 * 10 11 12. 



South limit in Somerset and Suffolk. ^^7*^, 



North limit in Durham and Westmoreland. 



Estimate of provinces 5. Estimate of counties 8. 



Latitude 51 — 55. Germanic (?) type of distribution. 



Agrarian region. Inferagi'arian — Midagrarian zones. 



Descends nearly or quite to the coast level. 



Ascends to 100 yards, or probably upwards. 



Range of mean annual temperature 50 — 47. 



Native. Pascual ? The distribution of this species 

 connot be satisfactorily given ; L. angustifolium, and even 

 L. usitatissimum, having been mistaken for it in some in- 

 stances. The authorities for its occurrence in the pro- 

 vinces of Thames (Martyn) and Severn (Lees, &c.) are 



