I^LAX OF ECOKOMIC PLANTS. 177 



expansion of the leaves ; when seen in the distance have the 

 appearance of being on fire. Examples are — 1. Blwdodendron 

 arboreum, native of Nepal, a tree of considerable size, which 

 when in flower imparts a blaze of colour to the forest. 2. Ster^ 

 culia acefifolia, a tree of the Cola Nnt family (Stercnliaeeas), 

 native of New South "Wales, attaining a height of 60 to 

 100 feet, and a circumference of from 6 to 8 feet, having 

 smooth, large, lobed leaves and racemes of showy red flowers. 

 3. Nuytsia ligustrina and iV. jHorihimda, the first native of 

 ISTew South Wales, and the latter South - West Australia. 

 They belong to the Mistletoe family (Loranthacese), and are ex- 

 ceptions to the general rule of that family in not being j)arasites 

 on other trees ; but they grow in the ground, forming bushy 

 trees 20 or 30 feet high. 4 In the region of the Dead Sea, 

 the pretty flowering tree Acacia Farnesiana, belonging to the 

 Leguminos^, is densely covered with a species of parasitical 

 LorantMis, which when in flower gives the trees the appearance 

 of being on fire. 



Flax (Linum tisitatissimum), a wiry, erect-stemmed annual of 

 the Flax family (Linace^). It appears to have been cultivated 

 from remotest antiquity, manufactured Plax fibre having been 

 found in the preliistoric lake-cities of Switzerland; and the 

 mummy cloth of Egyptian tombs was made of Elax fibre. Elax is 

 now generally cultivated in many countries of the north tem- 

 perate zone, growing as well in IsTorthern Eussia as in the 

 valley of the Nile and plains of India. It is cultivated in this 

 country, but more extensively in Ireland ; the quantity, however, 

 falls short of the demand. It is largely imported from Eussia, 

 and various other parts of Europe ; also from Egypt and Turkey. 

 Elax undergoes many operations before its fibre is ready for spin- 

 ning. The seeds are also an important article of commerce, ship- 

 loads being imported from the Baltic and the Black Sea for the 

 purpose of crushing, from which Linseed Oil is obtained. The 

 compressed refuse of the seeds forms Oil-cake, used for feeding 

 cattle, and the crushed or ground seeds form Linseed Meal, a 

 valuable emollient for poultices. In dressing, Flax goes through 



