Flax

Flax, also known as common flax or line, is a flowering plant called Linum usitatissimum. It grows best in areas with mild temperatures, such as those found in many parts of the world.

People grow flax for both its food and its fibers. The fibers from flax are used to make a special kind of cloth called linen. Linen has been used for many years to make soft and comfortable things like bed sheets, underclothes, and tablecloths. Flax also produces seeds called flaxseed or linseed, and from these seeds we get linseed oil, which has many uses.

Flax is a plant that only grows where people take care of it. It seems that long ago, people took a wild plant called pale flax, which is known as Linum bienne, and began to grow it. In places like New Zealand, plants called "flax" are actually from a different group called Phormium, and they are not the same as the flax we are talking about here.

Names and etymology

The word 'flax' comes from old words used in Old English, such as fleax. Similar words exist in other old languages like Old Frisian and German. Another name for flax is 'line', also from Old English lín. This name is used in words like 'linen', which means cloth made from flax, and 'linseed', the seeds of the flax plant.

Description

Flax, also called common flax or line, is a type of plant that looks similar to other plants in its group. Unlike some of these plants, flax is an annual plant, meaning it grows, blooms, and dies in one year.

Flax plants can grow up to about 1.2 meters tall and have thin stems. Their leaves are a special green color, narrow, and about 2 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers of flax can be white, blue, yellow, or red and are about 15 to 25 millimeters across. After the flowers bloom, the plant produces a small, round, dry fruit containing several shiny brown seeds.

Flowers

Light-coloured flower

Capsules

Taxonomy

The scientific name for flax was created by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum in 1753.

Varieties

According to Plants of the World Online, the flax plant has two types, called Linum usitatissimum var. usitatissimum and Linum usitatissimum var. stenophyllum.

Cultivation

Flax grows best in places with temperate climates, like areas from the eastern Mediterranean to India. It was first grown by people in the Fertile Crescent. Flax likes deep, rich soils with lots of organic matter, but it does not do well in heavy clays or very dry sandy soils. Farmers usually do not need many fertilizers or pesticides to grow flax. The plant can grow to be about 3 feet tall.

People have used flax for making cloth for thousands of years. The oldest known flax fibers were found in Georgia and are about 30,000 years old. Flax was also grown in Syria, Turkey, Switzerland, and Germany. In ancient Egypt, flax was very important. The Phoenicians traded Egyptian linen, and the Romans used it for their sails. Today, most of the world’s flax comes from France, especially the area of Normandy.

Uses

Flax is grown for its seeds, which can be ground into a meal or turned into linseed oil, used as a nutritional supplement and in many wood-finishing products. Flax is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. Flax fibers are used to make linen, a soft and strong fabric.

Flax fibers are two to three times as strong as cotton fibers and are naturally smooth and straight. Europe and North America both used flax for making plant-based cloth until the 19th century, when cotton became more common. Flax is grown in the Canadian prairies for linseed oil, which is used in paints, varnishes, and products such as linoleum and printing inks.

Linseed meal, the by-product of making linseed oil, is used as livestock fodder.

Flax seeds

Flax seeds come in brown and yellow varieties. Both types have similar nutritional benefits and contain important omega-3 fatty acids. Flax seeds can be pressed to make linseed oil, one of the oldest commercial oils, used as an edible oil and in painting and varnishing.

Culinary

A 100-gram portion of ground flax seed provides about 2,234 kilojoules of energy, along with protein, fiber, and fat. Whole flax seeds stay fresh, but ground flax seeds can go bad if left out in the air. Storing them in the refrigerator or in sealed containers helps keep them fresh longer.

Nutrition

Flax seeds are rich in protein, fiber, B vitamins, and minerals. They are especially high in thiamine, magnesium, and phosphorus. As a percentage of their fat, flax seeds contain a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for health.

Health research

Studies have shown that eating flax seeds regularly can help reduce body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. It may also help lower markers of inflammation in some people.

Linseed oil

Safety

Flax seed and its oil are safe for most people to eat. Like many foods, flax contains small amounts of natural compounds that are not harmful in normal amounts. Flax seed can be a source of allergens for some people.

Fodder

After the oil is extracted from flax seeds, the remaining meal can be used as feed for animals such as cows, rabbits, and fish. It is also used for pigs and chickens, though in smaller amounts. The meal helps improve the quality of milk, eggs, and meat in some animals.

Warfare

Flax fibers

Flax fiber comes from the stem of the flax plant. It is soft, shiny, and flexible, and is stronger than cotton fiber. Linen, a fabric made from flax fibers, has been used for thousands of years. It was worn by priests in ancient Sumer more than 4,000 years ago.

The best flax fibers are used to make fine fabrics like damasks, lace, and sheets. Coarser fibers are used for making twine, rope, and even paper products like banknotes and tea bags.

Flax mills for spinning flaxen yarn were invented in England in 1787. New ways of processing flax have brought renewed interest in using it as an industrial fiber.

Preparation for spinning

Before flax fibers can be spun into linen, they must be separated from the rest of the plant. The first step is retting, which is letting the inner part of the stem rot away. After that, the outer stem is broken up and scraped off the fibers. Finally, the fibers are pulled through tools called heckles to remove any remaining bits of stem.

Retting flax

There are several ways to ret flax. It can be done in a pond, stream, or field. Pond retting is the fastest but can dirty the water. Stream retting takes longer but is less likely to dirty the water. Field retting takes the longest but is considered to produce the highest quality fibers and causes the least pollution.

Retting can also be done in a container like a trash can. If the water is kept at a certain temperature, the process can take just a few days. Scum and an odor are produced during this process.

Dressing the flax

Dressing the flax is the process of removing the outer stem from the fibers. It involves three steps: breaking, scutching, and heckling. Breaking breaks up the stem. Scutching scrapes some of the stem off the fibers. Heckling pulls the fibers through combs to remove the last bits of stem.

Genetically modified flax contamination

In September 2009, Canadian flax exports were found to have traces of a special type of flax called 'Triffid'. This flax had been approved for food and feed in Canada and the U.S., but not in Europe, where they do not allow any unapproved plants. Because of this, Triffid was removed from use in 2010 and never grown for sale in Canada or the U.S. Stores of Triffid were cleared out, but tests later showed that Triffid still existed in some Canadian flax plants. This could have affected future crops. To fix this, new flax seeds without Triffid were used for the 2014 crop. Labs now check for Triffid, looking for just one Triffid seed in every 10,000 seeds.

In culture

Flax has been important in history and culture. Ancient people in Norway wrote about flax on special marks made on tools. They also told stories connecting flax with plants and animals to bring good luck.

Today, flax is a symbol for Northern Ireland. It appears on important signs and money in the United Kingdom. In Belarus, flax is the national flower. In some old versions of the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty," the princess gets hurt with a piece of flax instead of a spindle.