Fairy Flax
Taken at White Sands on 25th June 2017 using Panasonic Lumix LX5 in macro mode.
Fact File



 


Fairy Flax.
Species:
Order:
Family:
Habit:
AKA:
Linum catharticum.
Malpighiales.
Linaceae.
Annual or biennial herb.
Purging Flax.
Habitat:
Blooms:
Height:
Feature:

Sea-shore meadows, dry pastures, rocky outcrops.
July - August.
5 - 25 cms.
Flax is grown for its oil, as a nutritional supplement, and as an ingredient in many wood-finishing products. Flax is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. Flax fibres are used to make linen. Flax fibres are taken from the stem of the plant, and are two to three times as strong as those of cotton.
Europe and North America depended on flax for vegetable-based cloth until the 19th century, when cotton overtook flax as the most common plant used for making rag-based paper. Flax is grown on the Canadian prairies for
linseed oil, which is used as a drying oil in paints and varnishes and in products such as linoleum and printing inks. In India, flax seed oil is also known as alsi in Hindi and javas in Marathi. It is mainly used in Savji curries such as mutton curries.