Flax (aka common flax or linseed) is a member of the genus Linum in the family Liaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India. Flax was extensively cultivated in ancient Egypt. The crop can be grown for its fibers when used for textile. If the crop is grown for seed production we use the name linseed.

Flax is a cool temperate annual herb with erect, slender stems, 80-120 cm tall, taller than linseed. A cultivated plant in closely spaced field conditions has little branching except at the apex. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate and greyish-green with 3 veins. Flowers have five, bright blue or white, petals in a cluster. The sepals are lanceolated and nearly as long as the pointed fruit. The fruit are spherical capsules. The seeds are oval, somewhat flattened, 4-6mm long and are pale to dark brown and shiny.

Flax fibre is hollow, able to absorb up to 12% of its own weight in water. It also dries quickly, does not perspire and is anti-static by nature making it equal to man-made synthetic fibres such as fibreglass. The fibres are twice as strong as those of cotton and five times as strong as those of wool. Its strength increases by 20% when wet.

Flax is a short poorly competitive crop and subject to lodging in wet conditions. It grows well on all well structured, reasonably water retentive soils. It grows best on medium to light soils with an organic matter of 2.3 - 3.0%, optimum pH 5.6 - 6.0. Soils prone to water logging should be avoided, as flax does not possess a vigorous rooting system. A plant population of 500 - 900 plants/m2 should be established (50 - 60kg/ha). Flax is responsive to nitrogen but rarely to phosphorus or potassium, however excess nitrogen levels cause production of coarse fibre and a crop more likely to lodge. Dry weather during maturation and harvesting are necessary. Harvesting is usually late August to late September, when the whole plant is dry and stems are yellow. Linen flax must be pulled, turned and retted before it is baled whereas industrial flax is combined, making harvest considerably easier. Flax for the geotextile market requires retting but other market sectors do not require retted flax, making it considerably cheaper.

Linola

Normal linseed oil is not edible and is used for the manufacture of paint, because of its drying and hardening properties when exposed to the air and sunlight. Through selective breeding a new variety called Linola was born. To make the linseed oil edible, the fatty acid composition has been changed and linolenic acid (C18:3) has been substantially reduced from 50% to 2%. These low linolenic acid mutants have greatly elevated levels of linoleic acid, 65 - 76%. This reduction in linolenic acid considerably increases the oxidative stability of the oil - it becomes an edible polyunsaturated oil almost identical to sunflower in fatty acid composition. The colour of the seed is also changed, with edible linseed being a pale yellow colour enabling it to be distinguished from non-edible linseed, which is brown.