98 
17. LIN ACE J£ . 
lanceolate ; panicle few-fl. corymbose ; sep. orate or ovate-lan- 
ceolate acuminate pointed nearly as long as the ripe caps., the 
inner slightly ciliate ; pet. twice as long as cal. ; caps, downy or 
mealy within.— EB. t. 381 ; DC. i. 426 ; Sm. E. FI. ii. 119 ; WB. 
i.27; Kochi. 139; Bab. 66. L. agreste Brot. i. 481. L. angusti- 
folium fi. DC. 1. c. L. perenne Buch 196. no. 349 (not Linn.). 
— Herb. ann. Mad. reg. 1, 2, c ; PS. reg. 1, 2, c. Roadsides, 
waste ground and borders of cornfields everywhere, chiefly 
above 500 ft. March-June. — Root tap-shaped simple white, 
decidedly and constantly only annual in Madeira though soon 
becoming thickened and woody at the crown and assuming 
quite a perennial appearance. Primary st. erect 2 or 3 in. high 
not flowering, of very short duration. From its base spring at 
first 1 or 2 then subsequently from 3 or 4 to 10 or 12 slender 
st. 5 or 6 in. to a ft. long, spreading on all sides close to the 
ground, their ends ascending or erect, woody and suflrutescent 
downwards, sparingly branched upwards and few-fl. L. small 
3 -nerved crowded and imbricated upwards, close-pressed, slightly 
glaucous. Ped. proliferous ; pedic. erect in fr. FI. rather large 
but a little smaller than in common Flax, pale lilac-blue ; pet. 
twice as long as sep., f- in. long, half as broad, obtuse wedge- 
shaped, entire in Madeiran specimens^ styles 5 ; fil. dilated 
downwards, without intermediate teeth or rudiments of abortive 
stam. Sep. 3 -5- or even 7 -nerved at the base, their edges mem- 
branous and slightly ciliate-serrulate. Caps, globose abruptly 
sharp-pointed, a little longer than the cal. ; its larger dissepi- 
ments very slightly downy or rather mealy. 
fft5. L. rsiTATissiMUM L. Flax. Linho. 
Herbaceous smooth ; st. single erect ; 1. lanceolate ; panicle lax 
corymbose ; pet. 3 times as long as cal. ; sep. ovate acuminate 
pointed ciliolate nearly as long as the caps, which is smooth 
within. — Desf. i. 277 ; Brot. i. 481 ; EB. t. 1357 ; DC. i. 426 ; 
Sm. E. FI. ii. 118; Presl 170 ; Koch 140; Bab. 66. — Herb. ann. 
Mad. reg. 2, cult, cc; reg. 1, 2, subnat. c. Generally cultiv. as 
a crop, especially in the north at S. Anna, S. Vicente, Ac. ; and 
here and there springing spontaneously, as towards the Praya 
W. of Funchal, Ac. Dec.-June. — St. solitary slender erect 1- 
1 1 ft. high eorymbosely branched upwards, of a peculiar light 
pleasant gr. bd. large conspicuous, blue with darker veins. 
Pet. crenate. 
A great proportion of the linen used in Madeira is spim and 
woven by the country-people with flax prepared from their own 
crops; and it is of excellent quality and very durable. 
