98 
PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
The Flax of commerce ( Linum usitatissimum) is not a true 
native, though Turner said: “ I have seen flax or lynt growyng 
wilde in Sommerset shyre ” (“ Herbal,” ii. 39); but it takes 
kindly to the soil, and soon becomes naturalized in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of any Flax field or mill. We have, however, three 
native Flaxes in England, of which the smallest, the Fairy Flax 
(Z. catharticum ), is one of the most graceful ornaments of our 
higher downs and hills. 1 The Flax of commerce, which is the 
plant referred to by Shakespeare, is supposed to be a native of 
Egypt, and we have early notice of it in the Book of Exodus ; 
and the microscope has shown that the cere-cloths of the most 
ancient Egyptian mummies are made of linen. It was very 
early introduced into England, and the spinning of Flax was 
the regular occupation of the women of every household, from 
the mistress downwards, so that even queens are represented in 
the old illuminations in the act of spinning, and “ the spinning- 
wheel was a necessary implement in every household, from the 
palace to the cottage.”— Wright, Domestic Manners. The 
occupation is now almost gone, driven out by machinery, but 
it has left its mark on our language, at least on our legal 
language, which acknowledges as the only designation of an 
unmarried woman that she is “a spinster.” 
A crop of Flax is one of the most beautiful, from the rich 
colour of the flowers resting on their dainty stalks, and it is also 
one of the most useful; from it we get linen, linseed oil, oil¬ 
cake, and linseed-meal; and as garden plants the Flaxes are 
all ornamental. There are about eighty species, some herb¬ 
aceous and some shrubby, and of almost all colours, and in 
most of the species the colours are remarkably bright and 
clear. There is no finer blue than in Z. usitatissimum , no 
finer yellow than in Z. trigynum , or finer scarlet than in 
Z. gra?idiflorum . 
1 “From the abundant harvests of this elegant weed on the upland 
pastures, prepared and manufactured by supernatural skill, ‘the good 
people’ were wont, in the olden time, to procure the necessary supplies 
of linen! ’’—Johnston. 
