LINEiE. 83 



D. longifolia. L. Long-leafed Sundew. A smaller and 

 more delicate plant, bearing flowers on a scape 2-4 inches long, 

 and bearing obovate leaves, crenate, tapering into a long petiole ; 

 blossoms in July, in swamps ; common in Britain and here. 



D. tenuifolia. Muhl. Slender-leafed. Has slender, almost 

 filiform leaves, 6-10 inches long, with flowers purple, on a scape 

 longer than the leaves ; August, in swamps ; abundant along the 

 borders of ponds at Plymouth, Big., where all the three species 

 are found growing in company. 



ORDER 139. LINEJE. The Flax Tribe. 



Persistent calyx of 3-4-5 sepals, and same number of 

 petals and stamens, all hypogynous ; flowers rather beautiful, but 

 fugacious. Only one genus in this country, containing the species 

 of our well-known Flax, which was introduced from England, and 

 is scarcely naturalized, and a wild species, a native of the United 

 States. Distinguished by the tenacity of the fibre, and the mu- 

 cilage of the seeds ; diuretic. 



Linum. L. 5. 5. 



Named from the Greek word, from which we have our word 

 line, on account of the use of the fibre from the remotest ages of 

 society. 



L. Virginianum. L. Wild or Virginian Flax. A weed of 

 hills and fields, growing 1-2 feet high, erect, smooth, slender, 

 bearing small yellow flowers in dichotomous panicles ; July. 



L. usitatissimum. L. Flax. Well named by Linnaeus from 

 its great use and importance, in which no similar article can be 

 a rival, unless it may be wool, cotton, and silk, and with which, 

 for a long period in Europe, no like article, except wool, could 

 compete. 



Flax requires a deep, rich, loamy soil, for its most successful 

 growth. The improved process for separating the fibre from the 

 inner part, is by drying and breaking the stem on a machine, without 



