Family: Linaceae S. F. Gray
Distribution: Probably indigenous to southwestern Asia – native species Linum bienne Mill.
Ecology: It has long been cultivated in Europe and Northern America for its oil and its fibres.
Description: Annual or biennal herb with erect, leafy stem, 30–120 cm high, branched only at the top. The leaves are alternate, linear, lanceolate, with three veins, 2–3 cm long. The flowers are blue, rarely white or pink, flowers from June to August. The fruit is a capsule.
Use: The Common Flax is a traditional product, it has been cultivated probably first by the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians. The Flax is fibre plant, the seeds are used medicinally.
These images were taken in Czechia, Southern Moravia and Northwestern Bohemia (June 2004 and July 2007).
