Flax, also known as common flax or line, is a flowering plant, Linum usitatissimum, in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates.
Textiles made from flax are known in English as linen and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its seeds are known as flaxseed or linseed and its oil is known as linseed oil. In addition to referring to the plant, the word "flax" may refer to the unspun fibers of the flax plant.
The plant species is known only as a cultivated plant and appears to have been domesticated just once from the wild species Linum bienne, called pale flax. The plants called "flax" in New Zealand are, by contrast, members of the genus Phormium.
Names and etymology
The term 'flax' can refer to both the plant and the fibres of it, and is derived from Old English: fleax, from Proto-Germanic: *flahso. It is cognate with terms in other West Germanic languages, including Old Frisian: flax and German: flachs. From it are derived terms such as 'flaxseed' ('seed of the flax plant') and 'flaxen' ('made from flax', 'the colour of flax flowers', 'the colour of woven flax: especially in reference to hair'.
An alternative name is 'line' from Old English: lín, which is cognate with words in other Germanic languages such as Old Norse: lín, and its modern derivative Swedish: lin, along with Gothic: lein and Dutch: lijn. While this name for the plant is less common than 'flax', it is often used in the derived 'linen' ('cloth woven from flax') and the compound noun 'linseed' ('seeds of the flax plant').
Description
Several other species in the genus Linum are similar in appearance to L. usitatissimum, cultivated flax, including some that have similar blue flowers, and others with white, yellow, or red flowers. Some of these are perennial plants, unlike L. usitatissimum, which is an annual plant.
Cultivated flax plants grow to 1.2 m (4 ft) tall, with slender stems. The...
