Linum.] XVIL LINACRE, ~- 83 
XVII. LINACEZ. THE FLAX FAMILY. 
Herbs or undershrubs, with entire leaves, no stipules, and 
regular flowers. Sepals 5, rarely fewer, overlapping each other 
in the bud, rarely partially united. Petals as many, twisted 
in the bud. Stamens as many, free, or the filaments very 
shortly united at the base, with small teeth between each (or, 
in exotic genera, 10 stamens). Styles 5, rarely fewer, often 
slightly connected at the base, with capitate stigmas. Ovary, 
with as many cells as styles, or incompletely divided into twice 
as many. Capsule separating into as many carpels as cells, 
without any central column; each carpel opening inwards by 
longitudinal slits, and containing 2 seeds, often separated by an 
incomplete partition. No albumen. | 
A small Order, widely spread over the globe, differing from Gieraniacee 
chiefly in the foliage and the absence of any persistent axis to the fruit, 
from Caryophyllacee by the capitate stigmas and the structure of the 
fruit. 
Parts of the flower in fives MRAES AN nw eee ee Ree ne re. ee, ge EU RE 
Parts of the flower in fours 3 ; P A é . 2. RADIOLA, 
I. LINUM. FLAX. 
Sepals, petals, and stamens 5. Cells of the capsule apparently 10 but 
really 5, each divided into two by a nearly complete partition. 
A rather numerous genus, spread over nearly the whole of the temperate 
and warmer regions of the globe, but chiefly abundant in the Mediterranean 
region and western Asia. 
Flowers small, white. Lower leaves opposite . ° ° . 4 LD. catharticum. 
Flowers blue. Leaves all alternate. 
Root annual. Sepals pointed. 
Stem erect. Leaves lanceolate. Petals 7 or 8lines long. 1. LZ. usitatissimum. 
tem decumbent. Leaves short and linear. Petals not 6 
lines long . « 5 ° . ° ° ° ° . 3. DL. angustifolium. 
Rootstock perennial. 
Sepals obtuse. Petals deep blue, 7 or 8lineslong . . 2. DL. perenne. 
Sepals pointed. Petals pale blue, not 6lineslong . . 3. ZL. angustifolium, 
The LZ. flavum, a south European perennial, with yellow flowers, and 
some other exotic species, are to be met with in our gardens. 
1, &. usitatissimum, Linn, (fig.189). Common flax, Linseed.—A tall, 
erect annual, perfectly glabrous, and usually branched onlyatthetop. Leaves 
alternate, erect, narrow-lanceolate, pointed and entire, $ to 14 inches long. 
Flowers of a rich blue, in a loose terminal corymb. Sepals obovate or lan- 
ceolate, all pointed. Petals obovate, entire or slightly crenate, 7 or 8 lines 
long. Capsule globular or slightly depressed. 
An extensively cultivated plant, whose origin is unknown, but it readily 
sows itself as a weed of cultivation in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the 
world, and as such may be occasionally met with in some parts of England. 
Fl. summer. 
2, G. perenne; Linn. (fig. 190). Perennial Flax.—A very variable 
plant, sometimes resembling much L. usitatissimum, but it forms a peren; 
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