Wildflowers of Ainsworth: Common Flax

(Click on images to enlarge)

All the forests and fields I've roamed over, all the roadsides and tracksides, and this one lonely plant is the only specimen of Common Flax I've ever found. And it won't even bloom properly.

Also known as linseed, this plant is the source of linseed oil. The seeds and their sprouts are edible. The stalks have been used to produce linen since prehistoric times. Per Wikipedia: "Flax fiber is extracted from the bast or skin of the stem of the flax plant. Flax fiber is soft, lustrous and flexible; bundles of fiber have the appearance of blonde hair, hence the description 'flaxen.'" As in The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.

Pretty blue blossoms (even if I can't catch them fully open).



In silhouette:



*sigh* Get out of the way, Maya!