Linum bienne Linum bienne Linum bienne, the pale flax, is a flowering plant in the genus "Linum", native to the Mediterranean region and western Europe, north to England and Ireland. Pale flax grows as a biennial or perennial plant in dry, sunny calcareous or neutral grasslands from sea level up to 1000 m. It has long, narrow stems to 60 cm tall and slender leaves 1.5-2.5 cm long. The flowers have five petals about 1 cm long and nearly round; they are pale blue but streaked with darker colour. It flowers in late spring and, at least in more temperate regions, through
Flax health of linseed oil. Eventually, Flanders became the major center of the linen industry in the European Middle Ages. In North America, flax was introduced by the colonists and it flourished there, but by the early 20th century, cheap cotton and rising farm wages had caused production of flax to become concentrated in northern Russia, which came to provide 90% of the world's output. Since then, flax has lost its importance as a commercial crop, due to the easy availability of more durable fibres. Flax is grown for its seeds, which can be ground into a meal or turned into