Flax
Parts Usually Used
Seeds
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Flax is a delicate annual plant 8-22 inches high; the slender, wiry, glabrous, single, leafy, stem has few branches and bears alternate, sessile, simple, entire, lanceolate to oblong, linear, leaves. The numerous leaves are stalkless, alternate, linear with three parallel nerves. Each branch has one or two, delicate, blue or violet-blue, five-petaled, funnel-shaped, slightly overlapping petals (1/2-3/4 inches across), flowers from June to August.
The fruit is an 8- to 10-seeded capsule; the seeds are smooth, flattened, shiny, oval beaked, and light brown. Zones 5-10. Not heat-tolerant. This is the common flaxseed. Another flax plant, purging flax or fairy flax (Linum catharticum), is common in European meadows and pastures. It has opposite leaves and white flowers. In small quantities the plant has purgative properties; in large quantities it is emetic.
An infusion of the dried herb is used. Caution: large quantities of purging flax can cause fatal poisoning. ” This plant’s root was steeped for eye medicine. The Paiute Indians called it “Alai natesua” and the whole stem was steeped and used for disorders of the stomach and gas.
Where Found
Widely cultivated in the United States (mostly the northwestern states), Canada, and Europe but also found wild along roadsides, railroad lines, old fields, and in waste places. Native to Europe.
Medicinal Properties
Antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tussive, demulcent, emollient, laxative, mucilaginous, pectoral, purgative, tonic
Biochemical Information
Glycosides, gum, linamarin, linoleic acid, linolenic acids, mucilage, oleic acid, protein, saturated acids, tannins, and wax, vitamins A, B, D, E, minerals and amino acids
Legends, Myths and Stories
Only mankind eats the starch from the seed and throws away the materials necessary for the metabolism of that starch. The mucilage of the flaxseed, obtained by boiling in water or wine was once used to give body to red wines. Cotton and flax were among the earliest substances used for cloth fabric, having been found throughout remains from ancient Egypt and in both the old and new worlds.
(linen and linsey-woolsey) Cultivated since at least 5,000 BC. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen cloth woven from the stalks of the flax plant. As early as the Mesolithic period, it was known to man for its usefulness. In that era, flax provided both oil and fiber for garments, as the remains of prehistoric lake dwellers in Switzerland indicate. In 8th century France, Charlemagne passed laws requiring his subjects to consume the seeds to keep the people healthy.
The cultivation of flax in Egypt can be traced back to the 14th century BC; flaxseed intended as provisions for the last journey was found in Egyptian burial chambers. Hippocrates (around 500 BC) and Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim 1493-1541) refer to flaxseed mucilage as a soothing cough remedy. The flax herb is cultivated in China for its seeds and oil.
Uses
Historically valued as the source of linen fiber and linseed oil, flax was also widely employed in traditional herbal medicine. Herbalists regarded the seed as soothing to irritated membranes and commonly prepared hot poultices from the ground meal, sometimes combining it with other herbs such as smartweed, slippery elm bark, hops, or mullein. These poultices were traditionally applied to sores, boils, wounds, localized inflammation, and rheumatic complaints.
Decotions of the seeds were historically administered for respiratory complaints, including coughs, catarrh, bronchitis, and pleurisy, as well as for fever, dropsy, gout, cystitis, and various digestive disturbances like gastritis, dyspepsia, and diarrhea. The intact seeds were often taken internally as a bulk-forming laxative to address chronic constipation, or prepared as an enema.
Folk traditions also utilized the pressed oil for gallstones and pleurisy, while an old domestic practice involved placing a whole seed under the eyelid in the belief that its mucilage would entrap and remove foreign objects from the eye. In addition to medicinal applications, the seed was historically associated with promoting healthy skin, nails, and teeth, and the extracted oil found extensive industrial use in paints and linoleum.
How Sold
Linseed oil Flax seeds
Warning
Flaxseeds may not be strong enough for severe constipation and may feed congestion in the colon. Seek professional medical advise if severely constipated or blood in the stool. Linseed oil deteriorates rapidly, prepare fresh often. DO NOT take artist’s linseed oil internally. Immature seed pods can cause poisoning. Caution: large quantities of purging flax can cause fatal poisoning.
Contains a cyanide-like compound. Oil may be emetic and purgative. Overdoses cause respiratory distress and paralysis.
Bibliography
The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) Indian Uses of Native Plants , by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.
Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Prescription for Nutritional Healing , by James F.
D. and Phyllis A. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). The Yoga of Herbs , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. The Rodale Herb Book , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974 The Healing Plants , by Mannfried Pahlow, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
, Hauppauge, NY 11788, 1992