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UK Nature  > Wild Flowers  > Blue & Purple Wild Flowers  > Linum usitatissimum




Scientific Name:   Linum usitatissimum
Common Name:   Common Flax

Linum usitatissimum more commonly known as Common Flax or Linseed, is a slender, erect, narrow-leafed annual with upward-facing sky blue/violet flowers. The flowers only live for a day and give way to small round capsules, filled with sniny, flattened seeds.

It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climate. Textiles made from flax are known in Western countries as linen, and are traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen. Its oil is known as linseed oil.

Most plants found in the wild probably come from crop spillage or from bird seed. Found throughout the UK, though never numerous or common.










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