FLAX; a genus of the pentagynia order, belonging to the pentandria clas of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 14th order, Gruinales. The calyx is pentaphyllous; the petals are five, the capsule is quinquevalved and decemlocular; and the seeds are solitary.

Species. 1. The ufitatimum, or common annual flax, hath a taper fibrous root; upright, slender, unbranched stalks, two feet and a half high; garnished with narrow, spear-shaped, alternate grey-coloured leaves; and the stalks divided into footstalks at top, terminated by small blue crenated flowers in June and July; succeeded by large round capsules of ten cells, containing each one seed. 2. The perenne, or perennial Siberian flax, hath a fibrous perennial root, sending up several upright, strong, annual stalks, branching four or five feet high; garnished with small narrow, spear-shaped, alternate leaves of a dark green colour; and terminated by umbellate clusts of large blue flowers in June, succeeded by seeds in autumn. 3. The catharticum, or purging flax, with leaves opposite and lanceolate; the stem bifurcated, and the corolla acute. This is a very small plant, not above four or five inches high; found wild upon chalky hills and in dry pleasure-grounds. There are 18 other species.

Culture. The first species is cultivated in the fields according to the directions given under the article Flax. The second sort is raised from seed in a bed or border of common garden-earth, in shallow drills six inches asunder; and when the plants are two or three inches high, thin them to the same distance; and in autumn plant them out where they are wanted.

Uses. The first species may justly be looked upon as one of the most valuable of the whole vegetable kingdom; as from the bark of its stalks is manufactured the lint or flax for making all sorts of linen-cloth; from the rags of the linen is made paper; and from the seeds is expressed the lintfeed oil so useful in painting and other trades. The seeds themselves are esteemed an excellent emollient and anodyne: they are used externally in cataplasm, to afflauge the pain of inflamed tumors; internally, a slight infusion of linseed, by way of tea, is recommended in coughs as an excellent pectoral, and of great service in pleurisies, nephritic complaints, and suppressions of urine. The virtue of the third species is expressed in its title: an infusion in water or whey of a handful of the fresh leaves, or a dram of them in substance when dried, are said to purge without inconvenience.