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Linum usitatissimum
Also called Common flax, Linseed, Cultivated Flax, Lan, Linen Flax
Flax is an annual herb grown for its seeds (linseed), its oil, and the fibres used to make linen. It thrives in cool temperate climates with deep, fertile, well-drained loam.
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.
Flax is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. The soils most suitable for flax, besides the alluvial kind, are deep loams containing a large proportion of organic matter. Flax is often found growing just above the waterline in cranberry bogs. Heavy clays are unsuitable, as are soils of a gravelly or dry sandy nature. Farming flax requires few fertilizers or pesticides. The plant can reach a height of around 3 feet.
Flax is grown for its seeds, which can be ground into a meal or turned into linseed oil, a product used as a nutritional supplement and as an ingredient in many wood-finishing products. Flax is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. Moreover, flax fibers are used to make linen. The specific epithet in its binomial name, usitatissimum, means "most useful".
Tree Flax · Pale flax · Golden Flax · Flowering flax · Lewis flax · Flax · Blue flax · Linum strictum · Flax
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Flax by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
