PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Linaceae FAMILY

Linum usitatissimum

Linum usitatissimum

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The seed of some strains contain cyanogenic glycosides in the seed though the toxicity is low, especially if the seed is eaten slowly. It becomes more toxic if water is drunk at the same time[1, 2]. The cyanogenic glycosides are also present in other parts of the plant and have caused poisoning to livestock[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Prefers a light well-drained moderately fertile humus-rich soil in a sunny sheltered position[4]. Plants grow best in a well-drained, loamy soil, those overlying a clay subsoil produce the best results[5]. They prefer a pH in the range of 5 - 7[5]. Very light highly fertile soils are not desirable as they produce tall rank growth tending to lodge[5]. Plants are more sensitive to salt than most field crops[5]. Prefers a cool moist climate during the growing season, dry weather making the plants short and woody[6, 5]. A very greedy plant, depleting the soil[7, 8] and requiring a rich, well prepared soil if it is to do well[8]. Plants help to break up organic matter and prepare the soil for following crops[9]. Cultivars selected for seed production succeed under a fairly wide range of conditions, but those selected for fibre production require abundant moisture and cool weather during the growing season, and warm dry weather during harvesting, especially where water-retting is practiced[5]. The crop requires 15 - 20cm of rainfall if spread evenly over growing season, with 2.5 cm falling just before or after planting[5]. The plant needs a relatively long ripening period between flowering and harvesting. Warm, dry weather is desirable at the heading stage to cause plants to branch and produce seed; after vegetative growth, dry weather is required for curing the seed[5]. Linseed has a very long history of cultivation in temperate climates with evidence to show that it was being grown in Egypt over 5,000 years ago[5]. It fell into almost complete disuse in Britain in the 20th century as artificial fibres were increasingly used, but it is once again coming into prominence both as a fibre and as an oilseed crop(1995)[PFAF]. Linseed is grown for its edible seed, the oil from the seed and for the fibres obtained from the stems[10]. There are many named varieties, though these usually fall within with two classes. One class, generally known as flax, does not branch much and is grown mainly for the fibre in its stem, whilst the other class, known as linseed, branches much more freely and is grown mainly for its seed. Although classified as a species, linseed is possibly an ancient cultigen derived in cultivation from L. bienne[11, 12]. Flax crops take 3 - 4 months to reach maturity, though autumn or early spring sown crops can take 6 - 7 months[5]. Lolium specis (Rye grasses) and Phleum species (Timothy grass) have allelopathic effects on Linum, reducing its carbohydrate synthesis[5]. Linseed is a good companion plant for potatoes and carrots but is inhibited by Camelina sativa[13, 14].

Propagation

Seed - sow early to late spring in situ. Do not transplant the seedlings[12]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Linum+usitatissimum>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. — Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. · HMSO · 1984 · ISBN 0112425291 ↩︎Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.
  2. [2]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  3. [3]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Handbook of Energy Crops — Duke. J. · - · 1983 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html · ISBN - ↩︎Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants.
  6. [6]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  8. [8]Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th edition. — ? ↩︎It contains a few things of interest to the plant project.
  9. [9]A - Z of Companion Planting. — Allardice.P. · Cassell Publishers Ltd. · 1993 · ISBN 0-304-34324-2 ↩︎A well produced and very readable book.
  10. [10]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  11. [11]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  12. [12]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  13. [13]Companion Plants. — Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. · Watkins · 1979 · ISBN - ↩︎Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.
  14. [14]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  15. [15]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  16. [16]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  17. [17]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  18. [18]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  19. [19]The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. — Mills. S. Y. ↩︎An excellent small herbal.
  20. [20]Herbs — Phillips. R. & Foy. N. · Pan Books Ltd. London. · 1990 · ISBN 0-330-30725-8 ↩︎Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
  21. [21]Estrogen-like activities and cytotoxicity effects of Thai herbal medicines as natural ingredients in anti-ageing — Bancha Yingngam, Nuttapun Supaka & Wandee Rungseevijitprapa · 2011 · http://10.5897/JMPR11.1223 · ISBN 1996-0875 ↩︎
  22. [22]Plants with a Purpose. — Mabey. R. · Fontana · 1979 · ISBN 0-00-635555-2 ↩︎Details on some of the useful wild plants of Britain. Poor on pictures but otherwise very good.
  23. [23]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  24. [24]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  25. [25]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  26. [26]Flowers of the Mediterranean. — Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. · Hogarth Press · 1987 · ISBN 0-7012-0784-1 ↩︎A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.
  27. [27]The Useful Plants of Great Britain. — Johnson. C. P. ↩︎Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.
  28. [28]Plant Fibres for Papermaking. — Bell. L. A. · Liliaceae Press · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.
  29. [29]Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. — Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) · Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading · 1986 · ISBN 0704909820 ↩︎Some suggested alternative commercial crops for Britain. Readable. Produced by a University study group.
  30. [30]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  31. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎