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Linum strictum
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<h2 id="habitat">Habitat</h2> <p><i>Linum strictum</i> prefers well-lighted habitats, mostly in dry hills, sandy and rocky places, and vineyards. Its range is from southern Europe and North Africa, all along the Mediterranean as far as the <a href="/facts/Levant/uuJLt3Af">Levant</a>, and east to <a href="/facts/Afghanistan/v63Auu1C">Afghanistan</a> and <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a>. </p> <h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p><i>Linum strictum</i> is a <a href="/facts/Therophyte/gUExXEvH">therophyte</a> (annual), one of many annual plants that complete their lives rapidly in favorable conditions and survive the unfavorable cold or dry season in the form of seeds. In the <a href="/facts/Levant/uuJLt3Af">Levant</a>, the plant blossoms between February and May; the flowers being of a light yellow colour, each bearing 5 <a href="/facts/Sepals/rFYnXN4d">sepals</a> (4-6 mm) and 5 <a href="/facts/Petals/DQMkpRSm">petals</a> (6-12 mm), with 5 <a href="/facts/Stamens/MzNPVK3D">stamens</a>, and having a <a href="/facts/Gynoecium/P5qFQMk1">gynoecium</a> bearing five connected <a href="/facts/Style_(botany)/JEQ85ChP">styles</a> running lengthwise.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> Its <a href="/facts/Stigma_(botany)/JEQ85ChP">stigmas</a> are capitate, resembling the head of a pin. The plant bears <a href="/facts/Lanceolate/GfSyEn7C">ovate-lanceolate</a> leaves, with margins minutely <a href="/facts/Serrulate/GfSyEn7C">serrulate</a>, very rough, often inrolled. </p><p>The fruit is a symmetrical drum-shaped capsule, remaining dry as it rests closely against the mother plant for many months, until the seeds therein gradually scatter. </p><p>The species is divided into the following subspecies: <i>Linum strictum</i> subsp. <i>spicatum</i>, which grows chiefly in Cyprus, <i>Linum strictum</i> subsp. <i>strictum</i>, and <i>Linum strictum</i> subsp. <i>racemosum</i>. </p> <h2 id="references-in-classical-literature">References in classical literature</h2> <p>Flax linen was grown principally for its plant <a href="/facts/Bast_fibre/AWMJ2KRj">fiber</a> used in making linen cloth, its production was thought to be essential for the textile industry of that time. According to the <a href="/facts/Mishnah/nf6aBsjL">Mishnah</a> (<i>Baba Kama</i> 10:9), in 2nd-century <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>, women were the primary sellers of wool in <a href="/facts/Judea/yNA3wGqQ">Judea</a>, while they sold garments of flax in <a href="/facts/Galilee/4qgALq4a">Galilee</a>. According to <a href="/facts/Midrash_Rabba/v612nWFF">Midrash Rabba</a> (Genesis Rabba 19:1), the people of <a href="/facts/Beit_Shean/Cvtlthrh">Beit Shean</a> would make very fine (thinly woven) linen garments which were expensive to buy, but which would spoil easily at the slightest smear of charcoal. Likewise, the inhabitants of <a href="/facts/Arbel/vSRnABAR">Arbel</a> (now <i>Khirbet Irbid</i>) were also renowned for making linen garments, but these were made of a much thicker weave and were cheaper to buy, and they would normally last longer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>Historically, linen production has played an important role in Jewish agrarian laws, as well as in religious rites and ceremony. There are strict regulations regarding its wearing with <a href="/facts/Woollen/NAxNlgH2">woollen</a> fabrics. Textiles made from a <a href="/facts/Shatnez/1sJuR7Kb">mixture of linen and wool</a> are prohibited to be worn under religious Jewish law.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> At the time of the flax harvest, the <a href="/facts/Chazal/JVVCCgQV">Sages</a> have even defined how many stalks of flax that were forgotten in the field by their owner can be esteemed as "forgotten sheaves," enabling their finder to possess them, without him being guilty of theft.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> What constitutes a violation of <a href="/facts/Shabbat/pp5wb0JM">Sabbath-day</a> laws is also discussed with regard to flax, as bundles of freshly <a href="/facts/Retting/A3Mm5u81">retted</a> flax<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> were permitted to be placed inside a heated earthenware oven in order to accelerate the evaporation-rate of moisture remaining in the flax, so long as this could be done before the night of Sabbath had commenced.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> After drying, and after the limitations of the Sabbath had passed, it facilitated <a href="/facts/Scutching/mojXL3oX">scutching</a> of the flax stalks, for the production of <a href="/facts/Bast_fiber/AWMJ2KRj">bast fiber</a>. </p><p>In the ancient land of Israel, flax was harvested in the <a href="/facts/Lunar_month/2l4tadsA">lunar month</a> of <a href="/facts/Adar/dreu2cRm">Adar</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> (March), but by the late 19th-century, the cultivation of flax had completely disappeared from <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> To procure a whiter fabric, the leaves of bladder campion (<i><a href="/facts/Silene_venosa/veTWKLBj">Silene venosa</a></i>) were traditionally used to bleach the flax fibers. </p><p><a href="/facts/Dioscorides/FzDmURv3">Dioscorides</a>, in the Second Book of his <i><a href="/facts/De_Materia_Medica/lBNEHv9C">De Materia Medica</a></i> (2:125), brings down the plant's medicinal uses in his day. </p> <h3>Culinary usage</h3> <p>In ancient times, the green <a href="/facts/Sprouting/dB7vKvcA">sprouts</a> and tender leaves of flax (<i>Linum strictum</i>) were served in a hot dish of <i>kūtaḥ</i> (consisting of <a href="/facts/Whey/sTKcoxRq">milk whey</a>, stale bread crumbs, vinegar, and salt), for added flavour.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> In some cultures, flaxseed is traditionally roasted, ground to a powder, and eaten with boiled rice, a little water, and a little salt.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> Tender, germinated sprouts of flax-seeds, when eaten together with sprouts of celery seeds (<i><a href="/facts/Apium_graveolens/r2oRCGJw">Apium graveolens</a></i>) and fenugreek (<i><a href="/facts/Trigonella_foenum-graecum/1BKUXEwj">Trigonella foenum-graecum</a></i>), are said to have a cooling effect on the entire body.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Flax/rm28CMyJ">Flax</a></li></ul> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Linum strictum. <a href="/facts/Wikispecies/b2GhA7Le">Wikispecies</a> has information related to <i>Linum strictum</i>. <ul><li><a href="/facts/Carl_Linnaeus/gy5HWkHS">L.</a>Tooltip Carl Linnaeus (1753) <i>Species Plantarum</i>, Tomus I: <a href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13829#page/291/mode/1up">279</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=22357">"22357"</a>. <i><a href="/facts/Germplasm_Resources_Information_Network/Qc7FU8eN">Germplasm Resources Information Network</a></i>. <a href="/facts/Agricultural_Research_Service/s4FaWDuu">Agricultural Research Service</a>, <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture/3PK2rx7C">United States Department of Agriculture</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:544722-1">Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew Science</a>, Online Plants of the World (<i>Linum strictum</i> L.)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Avi Shmida, MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel, Tel Aviv 2005, p. 197 (s.v. Linum strictum) (Hebrew) OCLC 716569354 <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Midrash Rabba with ʿAnafim, ed. Enoch Zondel, vol. 1, New-York 1987, Genesis Rabba 19:1 (p. 21a), s.v. Commentary ʿEtz Yosef (first printing 1956) (OCLC 762494081) <a href="/wiki/Midrash_Rabba" target="_blank">/wiki/Midrash_Rabba</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Cf. Mendelsohn, I. (1940). "Guilds in Ancient Palestine". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 80 (80). The University of Chicago Press (on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research): 18 (note 15). doi:10.2307/1355331. JSTOR 1355331. S2CID 163731953. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Deuteronomy 22:11; Mishnah (Kila'yim 9:1, p. 38) <a href="https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0522.htm#11" target="_blank">https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0522.htm#11</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Mishnah (Peah 6:5, p. 17) <a href="/wiki/Mishnah" target="_blank">/wiki/Mishnah</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>On retting, see The Mishnah (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1977, s.v. Baba Metsia 6:1 (p. 357); "[If a man hired labourers]... to take his flax out of steep, or any matter that will not suffer delay, etc." The sense here is to the retting process. <a href="/wiki/Retting" target="_blank">/wiki/Retting</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Mishnah (Shabbat 1:6, p. 101) <a href="/wiki/Mishnah" target="_blank">/wiki/Mishnah</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Amar, Z. (2012). Flora of the Bible - A New Investigation Aimed at Identifying All of the Plants of the Bible in Light of Jewish Sources and Scientific Research (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Rubin Mass Ltd. pp. 110–111. OCLC 783455868. citing W.F. Albright, "The Gezer Calendar", in: BASOR 92 (1943), pp. 16–26. <a href="/wiki/Zohar_Amar" target="_blank">/wiki/Zohar_Amar</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Dalman, G. (2013). Work and Customs in Palestine. Vol. I/1. Translated by Nadia Abdulhadi Sukhtian. Ramallah: Dar Al Nasher. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9789950385-00-9. OCLC 1040774903. <a href="9789950385-00-9" target="_blank">9789950385-00-9</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Babylonian Talmud (Nedarim 49a), Commentary of the Rosh, s.v. לוליבא; Babylonian Talmud (Baba Bathra 92a), Rashi, s.v. ולא צמחו (Hebrew). <a href="/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud" target="_blank">/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Chopra (1933) "Indigenous Drugs Of India", Academic Publishers, p.677 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Described in the 5th century compendium known as the Babylonian Talmud (Avodah Zarah 38b). <a href="/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud" target="_blank">/wiki/Babylonian_Talmud</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>