. Flowers of the field. Botany. 48 THALAMIFLORJ3 after expansion ; stamens equal in number to the petals, and alter- nate with them, united at the base into a ring with small teeth between them ; ovary of about as many cells as there are sepals, and as many styles ; capsule approaching a globular form, tipped with the hardened base of the styles, each cell incompletely divided by a partition extending from the back inwards ; seeds one in each imperfect cell, pendulous. Herbaceous, rarely shrubby, plants, with undivided leaves and remarkably fugacious petals, principally, but not exclusively, c
. Flowers of the field. Botany. 48 THALAMIFLORJ3 after expansion ; stamens equal in number to the petals, and alter- nate with them, united at the base into a ring with small teeth between them ; ovary of about as many cells as there are sepals, and as many styles ; capsule approaching a globular form, tipped with the hardened base of the styles, each cell incompletely divided by a partition extending from the back inwards ; seeds one in each imperfect cell, pendulous. Herbaceous, rarely shrubby, plants, with undivided leaves and remarkably fugacious petals, principally, but not exclusively, confined to Europe and the north of Africa. The flowers are in many cases highly ornamental; but the most striking feature of the Flax tribe is the toughness of the fibre con- tained in their stems, and the mucilaginous qualities of their seeds, which also yield considerable quantities of oil. One species, Linum usilatissirmim, has for ages supplied the valuable article of clothing which takes its name " Linen " from the plant which produces it ; linseed oil is obtained from the seeds of the same plant, and the meal of the plant is valuable for poultices. I Linum (Flax).—Sepals 5 ; petals 5 ; capsule lo-valved and lo-seeded. (Name from the Celtic, Lin, a thread.) 2. Radiola (Flax Seed).—Sepals 4, connected below, 3-cleft; petals 4 ; capsule S-valved, 8-celled. (" Named from radius, a ray, I presume, in consequence of the raylike segments of the ;— Sir W. J. Hooker.) I. Linum {Flax) Leaves alternate I. L. perenne (Perennial Flax).—Leaves very narrow, tapering to a point; sepals inversely heart-shajied, obtuse, obscurely 5-ribbed. A slender plant with wiry stems, which are often procumbent ; very narrow sessile leaves, and very elegant sky-blue flowers, which are so fugacious as scarcely to bear being gathered. The plant varies greatly in different localities. Chalky fields.—• Fl. June, July. Perennial. L. angustifoUum (Narrow-leaved Flax. Pal
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1908
