Common Yellow Flax (Linum medium)

Lore: The name 'Linum' is the latin word for the fiber used to make linen. There is little lore associated with our native Flaxes, however, the blue flowered Common Flax (Linum usitatissimun ) introduced to this country from Europe has been used there for many thousands of years for the making of fabric. This Flax has been cultivated and escaped from cultivation for so long that the original location of origin is not known. The white linen made from the fibers symbolized purity and was used to make robes for the priests of many cultures including Egyptians. There are many biblical references to linen. (Grieve) Linseed oil is made from the seeds.

Medical Uses: Linum usitatissimun has been used for medically for various external and internal conditions for thousands of years and the Cherokees learned to use it after it was introduced in America.(Hamel/Chiltoskey) It is not known if they used the native Flaxes in a similar fashion.

Similar Species: There are about five Linum species native to our area. All are yellow flowered. Virginia Yellow Flax ( L. virginianum) is very similar. It has more divergent, flexible branches and very tiny sepal glands. These are difficult charters to distinguish. For some of the species the range and habitat are useful it helping to determine which is which. In the past some botanist grouped several species together as varieties of L. virginianum.