Flax

Flax, or common flax, is a flowering plant in the Linaceae family, scientifically named *Linum usitatissimum*. It grows as a crop for both food and fiber in temperate regions around the world. The plant’s fibers, when made into textiles, are called linen—traditionally used for bedsheets, undergarments, and tablecloths. Its seeds are known as flaxseed or linseed, and the oil pressed from them is linseed oil. The word “flax” can also refer to the unspun fibers themselves.

The species exists only as a cultivated plant and was domesticated just once, from the wild *Linum bienne*, or pale flax. (In New Zealand, plants called “flax” belong to a different genus, *Phormium*.)

The name “flax” comes from Old English *fleax*, tracing back to Proto-Germanic *flahso*, and is related to words in other West Germanic languages like Old Frisian *flax* and German *flachs*. From it come terms like “flaxseed” and “flaxen,” which describes things made from flax, the color of its flowers, or the shade of woven flax—often used for hair. An older alternative name is “line,” from Old English *lín*, linked to Old Norse *lín*, Swedish *lin*, Gothic *lein*, and Dutch *lijn*. Though less common for the plant itself, “line” appears in “linen” (cloth from flax) and “linseed” (flax seeds).

Several other *Linum* species look like cultivated flax, some with similar blue flowers and others with white, yellow, or red blooms. Unlike these, *L. usitatissimum* is an annual plant, while others are perennials. Cultivated flax grows to about 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall with slender stems. Its leaves are glaucous green, narrow and lance-shaped, 2–4 cm long and 3 mm wide. The flowers are 15–25 mm across, with five petals that can be white, blue, yellow, or red depending on the variety. The fruit is a round, dry capsule 5–9 mm wide, containing several glossy brown seeds shaped like apple pips, each 4–7 mm long.

Carl Linnaeus gave flax its scientific name in his 1753 book *Species Plantarum*. According to Plants of the World Online, the species has two botanical varieties: *Linum usitatissimum* var. *usitatissimum* and *Linum usitatissimum* var. *stenophyllum*.

Flax is native to a region stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. It grows best in deep loams rich in organic matter, often just above the waterline in cranberry bogs. Heavy clays, gravelly soils, and dry sandy soils are unsuitable. Farming flax requires few fertilizers or pesticides, and the plant can reach about 3 feet tall.

The earliest evidence of humans using wild flax as a textile comes from Dzudzuana Cave in the present-day Republic of Georgia, where spun, dyed, and knotted fibers date back 30,000 years to the Upper Paleolithic. Domestication happened in the Fertile Crescent, with evidence of domesticated oilseed flax (with larger seeds) from Tell Ramad in Syria and flax fabric fragments from Çatalhöyük in Turkey around 9,000 years ago. The crop spread steadily, reaching Switzerland and Germany by 5,000 years ago, and was cultivated in China and India at least 5,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptians grew flax extensively, painting flowering flax on temple walls and using linen for mummy embalming. Egyptian priests wore only linen, as flax symbolized purity. Phoenicians traded Egyptian linen across the Mediterranean, and Romans used it for sails. Flax production declined with the Roman Empire but revived in the eighth century CE under Charlemagne, who promoted linen’s hygiene and linseed oil’s health benefits. In the Middle Ages, Flanders became the European linen center. Colonists brought flax to North America, where it thrived, but by the early 20th century, cheap cotton and rising farm wages shifted production to northern Russia, which supplied 90% of the world’s output. Since then, inexpensive synthetic fibers have reduced flax’s commercial importance.

In 2022, world production of raw or retted flax reached 875,995 tonnes, with France producing 75% of that total. Normandy, a region in France, accounts for nearly one-third of global production.

Flax grown for fiber is harvested about 100 days after planting, roughly a month after flowering and two weeks after seed capsules form, when the plant bases turn yellow. If still green, the seeds and fiber are underdeveloped; if the plants turn brown, the fiber degrades. For seed, flax is left until the seed capsules are yellow and just beginning to split, then harvested by combine—either cutting only the heads or the whole plant. The plants are dried to extract the seed. Whether a farmer harvests the flax straw depends on weed content and market prices; if not harvested, the tough stalks are usually burned, as they decompose slowly.