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CULTURAL AND WILD PLANTS
Common flax (sowing flax). Legends, myths, symbolism, description, cultivation, methods of application
Directory / Cultivated and wild plants Content
Common flax (sowing flax), Linum usitatissimum. Photos of the plant, basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism
Basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism Sort by: Linen (Linum) Family: Flaxseeds (Linaceae) Origin: central Asia Area: Common flax is cultivated in many countries of the world, including Russia, Ukraine, Canada, China, India, the USA, etc. Chemical composition: The composition of flax includes linseed oil, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins (groups B, E, PP) and minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron). Economic value: Flax is one of the most common and important agricultural crops. Its fibers are used for the production of textile materials, paper, ropes. Flax oil is used in the food, medical and cosmetic industries. In addition, flax has valuable medicinal properties and is widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Legends, myths, symbolism: In ancient Greek mythology, flax was associated with the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. It was said that linen was used to create clothing for the goddess and her worshipers, and was also used in cosmetics and medicines. In Christian tradition, linen has been associated with the biblical character John the Baptist. It is said that he wore clothes made of linen and used the linen to make his ropes. In the cultures of Northern Europe, flax was associated with the goddess Fria, the goddess of love and fertility. She was depicted wearing clothes made from linen, and linen was used in rituals related to love, marriage, and fertility. Symbolically, flax was associated with the concepts of fertility, prosperity, purity and well-being.
Common flax (sowing flax), Linum usitatissimum. Description, illustrations of the plant Flax, Linum usitatissimum L. Botanical description, history of origin, nutritional value, cultivation, use in cooking, medicine, industry
An annual herbaceous plant up to 1,5 m high. The stem is erect, thin, branched. The leaves are numerous, alternate, sessile, linear, covered with a slight wax coating. The flowers are few, blue, collected in a loose paniculate inflorescence-curl. The fruit is a spherical capsule with a sharp apex, which contains oblong smooth seeds. Blooms in June-August. Flax is a cultivated plant known since prehistoric times. It was cultivated and spun, and also eaten. In India, flax was grown as a spinning crop and for oil. Flax growing existed in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia. In ancient Colchis (Western Georgia), the manufacture of fabrics from the fiber of creeping flax was developed. Spinning flax (fibre flax) has also been known since ancient times (during the excavations of a pile settlement in the Vologda region dating back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, seeds of cultivated flax were found that were able to germinate, as well as parts of a spinning wheel and prints of fabrics on ceramics). Later, in the X-XIII centuries, spinning flax began to be grown in Rus' everywhere Flax is harvested during early ripeness. After harvesting, the plants are threshed, and the stems are subjected to primary processing (moistening or steaming, washing and bashing) to make fiber. In addition to fiber flax, oil flax (curly flax) is grown to obtain seeds from which oil is produced. This plant is more thermophilic than fiber flax; especially a lot of heat it needs when ripening. Prefers chernozem soils. Flax seeds contain a lot of fatty oil, consisting of glycerides of unsaturated fatty acids, a large amount of proteins and mucous substances, sugars, organic acids, enzymes, vitamin C and carotene, linamarin glycoside. Flax seeds have long been used in folk medicine for chronic constipation, and an infusion of dry flax grass has been used as a diuretic for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. The medicinal properties of seeds are due to the content of linamarin glycoside in them, which regulates intestinal function, and mucous substances that have an enveloping, anti-inflammatory and mild laxative effect. An infusion of seeds and oil is used in the form of enemas for colitis, and in the form of lotions and compresses for skin diseases. In scientific medicine, seeds and preparations derived from flaxseed oil are used for inflammation of the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the urinary tract and kidneys, and food poisoning. The drug linetol is used for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis; externally - for burns and radiation damage to the skin. In addition, it is part of the anti-burn aerosol preparations vinizol, levovinizol, tegralisol, etc. Fatty linseed oil, obtained from seeds, is used for food. An insignificant part of flax seeds is used for the production of flour, from which various confectionery products are baked. Linseed oil is in great demand in the paint and varnish, electrical, rubber, and leather industries. The stems of spinning flax contain fiber, from which, after appropriate processing, fabrics are made that have excellent hygienic properties, and are superior in strength to wool and cotton. Flax straw also contains fiber suitable for the production of burlap, tarpaulin, twine, and high-quality paper. Flaxseed meal is used as livestock feed. Authors: Kretsu L.G., Domashenko L.G., Sokolov M.D.
Flax, Linum usitatissimum. Methods of application, origin of the plant, range, botanical description, cultivation
There are 2 ways of using flax - for fiber (fiber flax) and for oil (oilseed flax). In European countries, flax is mainly cultivated for fiber. The seeds obtained in this way are used for the reproduction of the plant (also for fiber) and for the extraction of oil from them as a by-product in this case. Flax is also widely cultivated for oil production. Unlike sunflower and a number of other crops, from the seeds of which edible oil is obtained, flax seeds produce high-quality technical oil, widely used in various industries - paint and varnish, leather and footwear, soap, paper, etc. Possessing the property of quick drying (iodine number 170 -200), linseed oil is considered the best for the preparation of drying oil, varnishes and printing inks. The sown areas of fiber flax in the world are approximately 2 million hectares, and oil flax - more than 7 million hectares. Linen fiber is used to make a variety of fabrics - from coarse sack and packaging to fine cambric and lace. "The purest of plants, one of the best fruits of the earth" - this is how Roman historians characterized flax. Linen fiber technical fabrics are used in automotive, aviation, rubber, footwear and many other industries. Linen fabrics and products made from them are distinguished by their great strength and beauty. They resist rot well and wear out slowly. With an increase in humidity, the strength of linen fabric increases, which is very important in a technical setting. Linen yarn is much stronger than cotton and wool, second only to silk and ramie in this respect. Flax is the oldest spinning and oil plant. In India and China, flax was introduced into cultivation earlier than cotton. The ancient monuments of Egypt confirm that there the production of fabrics from flax reached great perfection, and fishery items were also made: sails, nets, ropes. The Slavs borrowed flax from the Greeks. The words "lyon" (Greek) and "linum" (Latin) underlie the Russian - "flax". The origin of Linum usitatissimum L. has not been clearly established. It is assumed that it could come from a wild narrow-leaved species - Linum angustifolium Huds., which is found in the Mediterranean. It is assumed that 2 geographical groups could have arisen: spinning flax in the most ancient centers of sowing in Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Spain, Italy and Greece; oil flax - in Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Afghanistan, India. India is one of the primary centers of distribution of flax. The area of culture covers almost all countries of the world. Its southern border is located in the tropical zone (Java Island), and the northern one lies at 66 ° N. sh. The genus Linum of the Flax family (Linaceae) includes about 250 species. The cultural species Linum usitatissimum L. has a huge number of forms. These forms are classified differently by researchers. In practice, 4 groups of varieties are important: long-haired, mezheumki, curls, creeping flax. Dolguntsy are tall plants with a straight, non-branching 60-175-cm stem, which only forms several branches from above. There are 2-3 bolls per plant. Cultivated mainly for fiber. From the technical part of the stems, 26-31% of the fiber is obtained. The fruit is a rounded or ovoid capsule, pointed at the top, has 5 complete and 5 incomplete partitions. Thus, 5 nests contain 2 seeds each, and there are 10 in total. The seeds are flat, brown (sometimes yellow), ovoid, with a beak-shaped spout, smooth, shiny. The mass of 1000 seeds ranges from 3 to 13 g. When swelling, the seeds absorb 100-180% of water from their mass and become slimy. Flax is a self-pollinating plant. The development phases differ from other plants: germination, herringbone phase, budding, flowering, maturation. The vegetation period of flax is 85-90 days. In the fiber flax harvest, 75-80% is stems, 10-12% is seeds, and 10-12% is chaff and other waste. Bast fibers are located in the bark of the stem in the form of strands (bundles) or in the form of a solid cylinder. The length of an individual elementary fiber is 40-60 mm (up to 120 mm), the diameter is 20-30 microns. The number of fibers in a bundle is 10-50, and the number of bundles in a stem is 20-40. In the middle part of the stem, the fiber content increases to 35%. This is the most valuable, thin, strong and long fiber, with the smallest cavity inside and thick walls. In the upper part, the amount of fiber decreases to 28-30%, and its quality decreases. The best stem diameter is 1-2 mm with a total length of 80-100 cm or more. The smoother the diameter of the stem, the greater the yield of long fiber. The quality of the fiber used for yarn is determined by its number. The fiber number indicates the number of skeins of yarn of a certain length obtained from a unit mass of fiber. The average quality fiber has an indicator of 12-15, the highest - 25-36. The timing of harvesting fiber flax is determined depending on the goals of the culture. Flax, harvested in the phase of green ripeness, gives a reduced yield of not very strong, but thin, shiny fiber, suitable for the manufacture of thin products (lace, cambric). When harvested in the phase of wax ripeness of the seeds, the fiber is soft, silky and quite strong. Although the seeds are not fully ripe, they have time to ripen during drying and are suitable for sowing. In the phase of yellow ripeness of the stem, the fiber in its lower part begins to coarsen (lignify). When full ripeness occurs, the seeds in the box make noise when shaken. The fiber is already overripe, loses elasticity and becomes hard, dry.
When used for fiber, fiber flax is harvested in the phase of early yellow ripeness, in seed areas - in yellow. Harvesting is carried out with flax harvesters or flax harvesters. Cleaned and sorted seeds are stored at a moisture content of no more than 11-12%. The straw obtained after threshing should be divided into 2-3 grades according to the uniformity of length, thickness, color and directed to the lobe or spreading. In production, dew or water flax is used, in factories - thermal flax and chemical treatment in alkaline solutions (straw turns into a primary processing product - trust) or mechanical processing, with the separation of the bast, and then obtaining pure fiber. The yield of pure fiber is 15% or more by weight of the straw, or 20% or more by the weight of the straw. The most important form of oil flax is mezheumok, the oil content in the seeds is 33-40%. The highest oil content (up to 46-48%) has curly flax seeds from the highlands of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. Oilseed flax is more demanding of heat than fiber flax, especially during the ripening period. The requirements of oilseed flax and moisture differ: curly flax is relatively drought-resistant and tolerates a lack of moisture before flowering. Oilseed flax, when moving from south to north, lengthens the growing season. Curly flaxes are very diverse in terms of plant height, number of stems per plant, branching, number, shape and size of bolls. Oilseed flax can be cultivated on various soils. All types of chernozem and chestnut soils are favorable for it, with a well-defined structure. Heavy, floating soils that easily form a crust are less suitable for sowing flax. The best place for growing oilseed flax is in deposits and virgin lands. Good predecessors are cereals, legumes, melons, corn and other row crops. The return of flax to its original place earlier than in 5-6 years is undesirable. Oil flax is cultivated mainly in its pure form and less often in a mixture (in India) with mung beans, coriander, and early ripening varieties of peanuts. When cultivating the soil for oilseed flax, special attention should be paid to weed control. On fields that are free from weeds, subject to deep plowing in previous years, it is possible to confine oneself to surface tillage. Pre-sowing treatment should be aimed at retaining moisture and loosening the topsoil. Flax is very picky about the supply of nutrients in the soil. Phosphorus and potash fertilizers are best applied under the main tillage. The introduction of 100 kg/ha of superphosphate into the rows during sowing gives an increase in seeds up to 0,3 t/ha. Oilseed flax is sown in a narrow row, cross or ordinary row method with a sowing rate of 40-60 kg/ha. With wide-row sowing, the norm is 20-30 kg/ha. Seeding depth 4-6 cm. In areas where flax straw is not used for fiber, harvesting is carried out by combines at a low cut, at the beginning of full ripeness. With bilateral use, oil flax is pulled in the phase of yellow ripeness, followed by ripening of seeds in sheaves and threshing them on flax threshers. The short fiber is used to make paper. Straw yield is within 4,0 t/ha, seeds - 1,0-2,0 t/ha. In India, flax crops account for about 14% of the world's flax crop area. Oilseed flax is presented here in a wide variety of forms. The industrial classification of Indian flax is based on the size and color of the seeds. According to the color of the seeds, yellow- and brown-seed forms are distinguished. The mass of 1000 seeds reaches 9,6-10,2 g. In Argentina, flax is cultivated for fiber for the production of lace, cambric and other fine fabrics. There is a flax culture only for seeds (oil flax). Varieties of oil flax in the country have a growing season of 135-140 days, an oil content of 40%, and an iodine value of 178. Authors: Baranov V.D., Ustimenko G.V.
Common flax (sowing flax), Linum usitatissimum L. Botanical description, range and habitats, chemical composition, use in medicine and industry
Synonyms: Dolgunets, Ilnets, Ilnyak, Monets, Slate. An annual herbaceous plant with a thin stem 60-150 cm high, with numerous alternate narrow-lanceolate or linear leaves 4-5 cm long, of the flax family (Linaceae). Flowers on long stalks, light blue, rarely white, collected at the tops of the stems in sprawling inflorescences. The fruit is a spherical capsule with 10 seeds. Blooms in June-August. Seeds are used to obtain fatty linseed oil. Flax used for seeds is harvested in the phase of yellow ripeness, with browned boxes. Range and habitats. The homeland of the plant is the mountainous regions of India, China and the Mediterranean. It is widely cultivated in the temperate zone of Europe, Asia and North America, as well as in North Africa. Chemical composition. Seeds contain essential oil (30-48%), which includes glycerides of linolenic (35-45%), linoleic (25-35%), oleic (15-20%), palmitic and stearic acids; mucus - 5-12%, protein - 18-33%, carbohydrates - 12-26%, organic acids, enzymes, vitamin A. The plant, especially seedlings, contains up to 1,5% linamarin glycoside, which is cleaved by lipase into hydrocyanic acid, glucose and acetone. In the shells of the seeds, high-molecular compounds were found that, upon hydrolysis, give linocaffeine, linocinamarin.
Application in medicine. In medicine, flax seeds, linseed oil, and the drug linetol obtained from linseed oil are used. Flax seeds, filled with water, swell after 2-3 hours and secrete mucus. Taken orally, it has an enveloping effect on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, preventing the irritating effect of the food mass, creates an additional mucous membrane in the digestive tract and reduces the possibility of irritation of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, intestines, reduces pain, has an anti-inflammatory effect. Seed mucus is used orally for inflammation of the esophagus, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, enteritis, colitis. For inflammation of the rectum and hemorrhoids, therapeutic enemas are recommended. To prepare them, a tablespoon of flaxseed is poured into a glass of boiling water, insisted for 2-3 hours, applied to one enema, 50 ml of slightly warmed mucus. In cases where the rectum is sharply irritated and the patient cannot retain fluid, the amount of mucus is reduced to 20-30 ml, respectively, by introducing it more often. Mucous therapeutic enemas are prescribed for patients with dysentery (along with antimicrobial drugs), especially during the recovery period. After the enema, you need to lie down for at least an hour. Therefore, if the patient must work, the enema is used once a night; if he is on home mode, mucous enemas can be applied 1-2 times a day. Mucus can be used for poisoning with local irritants: vinegar essence, caustic soda. At the same time, it is prepared from whole and mature seeds (1:30), used 1 tablespoon 8-10 times a day before meals. Mucus prevents the absorption of toxic substances from the digestive tract into the blood. Apply mucus in combination with other therapeutic measures. Outwardly, mucus is used for trophic ulcers, after X-ray exposure. Flax seeds are poured with boiling water, and the whole mass in a gauze bag is applied to the affected area in a warm form. Seeds are also used as a gentle laxative, mixing a teaspoon into food. Swelling and not being digested for a long time, the mucus mechanically stretches the intestines, increases its contraction, and accelerates the movement of the food mass. The secretory and motor function of the gastrointestinal tract is enhanced by the alkaloid linamarin contained in the seed coat. There is another way to use the seeds as a laxative. Take a tablespoon of whole seeds, pour 2 cups of boiling water, shake for 10 minutes, strain through gauze and take half a cup on an empty stomach in the morning. With diarrhea, the mucus of flax seeds has some fixing effect. Flaxseed oil is used as a laxative and diuretic for cholelithiasis and cholecystitis, 1-2 tablespoons each. With constipation - on an empty stomach, with cholecystitis - during meals. It is used in dietary nutrition in patients with impaired fat metabolism, with atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, brain, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, with cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, fatty hepatosis (fatty liver). Flaxseed oil, like other vegetable fats, contains a minimum amount of cholesterol and a large amount of unsaturated fatty acids. The mechanism of the hypocholesterolemic action of vegetable oils consists in the binding of bile acids by the polyunsaturated fatty acids contained in the oil. In addition, vegetable oils and fatty acids have a laxative and choleretic effect. The combination of these factors - an increase in bile secretion, an acceleration of the movement of food mass and an increased binding of cholesterol in the intestine by unsaturated fatty acids - creates optimal conditions for the removal of cholesterol from the body. Other uses. Flaxseed meal is a good feed for dairy cattle. Linen chaff obtained from crushed boxes is used to feed pigs. Flaxseed is used to make flaxseed flour, which is used in cooking. Authors: Turova A.D., Sapozhnikova E.N.
Linen. Interesting plant facts
When tombs with mummies were discovered in Egypt, scientists were interested not so much in the bodies of the dead as in the linen ribbons with which the dead were wrapped. Woven from linen yarn. Thin as tissue paper. Compared to them, the best Belgian cambric, almost weightless and imperceptible, seemed like coarse burlap. The thinness of Egyptian threads bordered on cobwebs. If batiste was ranked 20th, then linen from the tombs was 200th! Compare with ordinary threads (the higher the number, the thinner). The difference is colossal. No one in the world in our technical age can weave such an airy fabric. The mystery of the Egyptian flax is lost. The secret has been forgotten. And maybe forever. In the meantime, flax has spread throughout the world. Got to Europe. In particular, it took root in the non-chernozem zone. Its wild relative also lives here - laxative flax. They noticed that fiber flax grows on the most useless soil, "where even grass does not grow." It can give decent yields in such damp lowlands, where even oats will not be born. This is where the belief arose that flax is a simple culture and there is nothing easier than growing long-grass. In fact, this is not at all the case. But first, let's imagine weed itself. Songwriters dubbed it briefly: "blue linen". A blue flower sits on the top of a thin straw, seated with the same filiform leaves. The straws stand in a tight crowd, almost clinging to each other. In such close quarters, a good fiber grows. Although flax grows on useless soil, it is also useless on it. Short. Yarn from such linen is bad. To grow a long straw, you need to fertilize. Why did the ancient Egyptians get good fiber? Because they raised dolgunets in the Nile Valley. Fertilizer was free. Even the proverb was like this: "The fertility of the Nile is in the fertility of silt!" However, the more fertile the soil, the more dangerous it is that the dolgunets will lie down. I don't know how the Egyptians got out of the situation. How did they solve this daunting task? In rice, in wheat - there you shorten the straw, and the culture stops lodging. You can't do that with flax. The goal here is just the opposite - to make the straw longer. Willy-nilly, we have to look for another solution. They searched and noticed: not every flax lies down. But only one in which the stems are bent at the top or bottom. A heavy seed pod pulls the bent stalk to the ground. Raindrops add extra weight. There are varieties with perfectly straight stems. In the world collection of flax, there are more lodging varieties than resistant ones! Why can't all varieties be made non-lodging? Apparently, the lodging have other valuable features that cannot be compromised? And here one funny trick comes to mind, which in the old days was used by Pskov flax growers. Clearing the fields of weeds, they spared one weed - colza. She, the colza, did not seem to bother the people of Pskov. They even created the most favored treatment for colza. Because they hoped for her support. In the truest sense of the word. Sometimes, bad weather will rise, flax will fall. Everywhere it will fall, except for those fields where the colza has not been weeded. This ubiquitous herb with yellow flower crosses turned out to be about the same for flax as stamens are for peas or tomatoes. Strong stems of colza can withstand any wind pressure. Thin stalks of flax under their protection and do not think to lie down. Of course, it's a thing of the past, but it doesn't hurt to think about this example. After all, Pskov flax growers are still considered the best. However, lodging is not everything. Flax harvested in time still needs to be processed. But as? Russian peasants have long been divided into two camps. Some stems wet. In the river or in the pits. Others spread in the meadows and leave there until the warm August dews are processed. They even came up with a special word - "dropping". The peasants of Tver are laying, the neighbors of Pskov are pissing, those of Mogilev are laying, those of Vitebsk are pissing. And of course, everyone praises his own way. Pskov, for example, assured that in the pits where the sheaves get wet, the water becomes tasty, sweet and healthy for livestock. And then, when it starts to rot, then it is no longer suitable for drinking, but it gives excellent silt - fertilizer is not worse than in the Nile Valley. From spreading, according to their concepts, one harm. Dolgunets lay on the meadows in autumn. Livestock at this time, and so the grass is not enough. And here the last sections are occupied. - From spreading a direct benefit, - the Tver people objected. - We stele on a mowed meadow. There is nothing for livestock to feed on it anyway. But under the linen roof in the ground, warmth is preserved and the aftermath, fresh grass, grows faster. Let's take off the flax, and under it the resurrected meadow! In the same place where they did not spread, at this time all the grass will wither, wither from the cold. There is only one harm from urination. Sewage poisons rivers. The fish is dying. No wonder the law was introduced so as not to wet where people drink water ... There is no consensus abroad either. Wet or lay? Who wets, who lays. However, you can wet it in different ways. For many years, the best fiber was received by the wetters from the Belgian river Lis. Valenciennes lace was woven from it. The ones that are known to every fashionista. For this, the Fox was nicknamed the "golden river" of Europe. At first they thought that the water in Lis was special. Have made the analysis - water as water. True, it is soft, but it happens in other rivers as well. Then they drew attention to the fact that the river Lys does not belong entirely to Belgium. Part of it is French. Just in the place where flax is wetted. Factory towns are scattered along the French coast. The sewage from them is dumped into the river. Therefore, there are more organics in the water than usual. The fox flows slowly, the sewage does not have time to swim away quickly, and there are more bacteria in the water that are needed for the lobe of flax. At first, when pissing was in its infancy, laws were passed forbidding wetting sheaves and polluting Foxes. Then, when flax began to make a profit, they not only allowed to wet, but even ... banned the movement of steamboats for the whole summer, from April to October. So as not to interfere with urination. Not all connoisseurs adhere to the version with impurities. According to other sources, the quality of the fiber depends more on the qualifications of the workers, who have studied the secrets of the flax plant to the subtlety. After all, each of them passes through his hands twenty boxes with sheaves of dolgunka through his hands in a day. Flax keeps so many mysteries that sometimes experienced people who have dealt with him all their lives get into a mess. Here, for example, what happened once in the Oryol province. Two peasants sowed dolgunets on the landowner's land. The area was empty. The landowner did not use it. But, having learned about the unauthorized sowing, he sent a punitive brigade. Linen was mowed down in bloom and abandoned. We will reveal the evil intent of the landowner. The point here is subtle and again concerns the life of flax, its biology. Peasant flax growers have known from time immemorial that flax is not mowed, but pulled, pulled by the roots. And although pulling is an expensive operation, because it requires a lot of labor, still no one dares to mow. Mowed flax lost wealth. On the shelf, it will deteriorate. The cut end will mature earlier, faster than the tip. Bacteria will process it faster. Tops by this time will not be ready yet. The landowner took all this into account and was sure that he had severely punished the peasants and that now their labors were in vain. They grieved and left with nothing. And flax remained lying homeless and useless to anyone. Two days later, those peasants got into a conversation with the agronomist V. Bogatyrev. They talked about their grief. The agronomist thought and said: "Bring that abandoned flax to me, it will still come in handy." They brought it. Tied up in sheaves. "Now let's wet the Belgian way." This means - in lattice boxes. The peasants reminded: nothing will come of it. The butts of straws are circumcised. They get wet faster than the tops. The Belgians soak uncircumcised flax. Uncut. “And we will tie the buttocks with twine,” says the agronomist, “so that too much water does not pass to them.” Bandaged. The agronomist felt: "This is also not good, too tight. Now the butts will lag behind in the lobe. Knit so that it is not tight, but not weak either. Medium." In general, that flax got wet to the glory, and the peasant work was not in vain. Now, of course, science has gone far ahead and combine harvesters are engaged in harvesting flax, but even now it does not interfere with recalling a case from peasant practice.
Of course, speaking of the long-leaved weed, one cannot remain silent about the companion grasses that have adapted to flax and follow it, despite all the tricks of agronomists. The famous Russian botanist N. Zinger tried for many years to find out how they succeed. Finally, in 1906, he got his way. I even wrote a dissertation on this topic. Here is what the brother of the dissertation student, the equally well-known physicist A. Zinger, the author of Entertaining Botany, said about this. Why N. Zinger was interested in flax weeds? Because they are special beings. And they look a little like other weeds. They are more like linen itself. Both appearance and seeds. The seeds are especially fine-tuned. Otherwise, when winnowing, they would fall into the trash. The main weed of flax is camelina. Its seeds in flax are larger than usual. An increase in seed size should lead to a decrease in their number. After all, even Goethe warned that the body, allowing itself some excesses, should save in others. Since the seeds of the camelina have become larger, other dimensions of the plant change: the stem is shortened, the number of pods ... Having developed this theory, Zinger decided to test it in practice. He suggested that a special large-seeded form of weed toritsa can clog flax. He did not see this plant, but predicted, using his theory, its distinctive features. And then he sent letters of request to various farms: "Send flax seeds." To the great joy of the botanist, seeds of toriza were found in a sample from the Vladimir province. The plants grown from them exactly confirmed the parameters of the hypothetical plant. The physiologist K. Timiryazev was especially pleased with the appearance of the new theory. “Your brother,” he said to A. Zinger at Moscow State University during a break between lectures, in fact showed that we can raise botany to the heights of exact science. As Mendeleev predicted the existence of new chemical elements, so your brother was able to predict and give a detailed description of the plant , which he managed to see with his eyes only three years later. Let's sum up. There are many unresolved problems with flax. Maybe some of them would have been solved long ago. Perhaps, it would have been possible to reveal the secret of the ancient Egyptians, if the dangerous competitor of the fiber, cotton, had not appeared on the world market in the middle of the last century. Cotton. In factories, it was easier to process it. It cost less. And the former glory of flax faded. And the XNUMXth century, which they already wanted to call the century of flax, was renamed the century of cotton. However, linen fans did not give up. They know that linen yarn cannot be replaced by any other. Linen underwear relieves fatigue from a person. No other fabric has such properties. Not without reason, when in Europe over the past 20 years flax crops have been reduced by half, subsidies were urgently allocated to flax growers. This can be ended by mentioning another old observation that is relevant to today. In 1771 Academician Ivan Lepekhin traveled around the Urals. He climbed Mount Konzhakovsky Stone and froze in amazement. An unimaginable spectacle opened up. Blue flowers bloomed against the background of gloomy, gloomy rocks. Millions of blue stars swayed in time with the gusts of wind on thin and long straws. On each more or less even area there was a blue flower garden, exactly reminiscent of patchwork strips of peasant Tver flax. It was really flax, only wild. He resembled his cultural counterpart not only outwardly. When Lepekhin measured the length of the straw, it turned out that it was almost equal to domestic flax. Tried to evaluate and fiber. Its tenderness and thickness are the same. The academician recalled how the Arkhangelsk coast-dwellers live in poverty without their northern flax, what losses they incur when dressing in expensive purchased fabrics, and decided to immediately recommend a wild plant for the northerners. Perhaps his advice would have been accepted, but the traveler forgot that wild flax is a perennial creature. Cultural is an annual. He has to be pulled - pulled with roots. What about perennials? Author: Smirnov A.
Linen. Botanical description, plant history, legends and folk traditions, cultivation and use
Linen has been known to people since the Stone Age, its remains were found in the oldest piled buildings on Swiss lakes. In the tombs of the Egyptian pyramids, mummies are bandaged with the finest linen. Linen clothes were worn in Assyria and Babylonia. Flax was also well known to our ancestors, the Slavs. The Arab traveler Ibn Fotsla in 921 saw Slavs on the Volga wearing linen clothes. The remains of linen clothes were found on the territory of Rus' in the barrows of the XNUMXth century: flax was considered by our ancestors to be the most important plant, it was sown first in the burnt-out forest. The English traveler Richard Chancellor, who visited Russia in the XNUMXth century, wrote in his book "Trade in Muscovy": "To the west of Kholmogor is the city of Novgorod, near which fine flax grows, as well as in the city of Pskov, in the vicinity of which there is a great abundance of flax." Linen belongs to the Formiaceae family, which unites 5 genera and about 36 species, the most famous is New Zealand flax. A sheet of New Zealand flax can withstand a mass of four hundred and ten kilograms, which is why the indigenous people of New Zealand - Maori used it as a textile plant, hence the name "mat", "basket". In order to obtain fiber, the Maori scraped off the toughest part of the leaves with the sharp edge of the shell, then soaked them in running water for four to five days, crushed them, bleached them in the sun and dried them. And the young leaves of New Zealand flax were used to make traditional jewelry that the young men gave to their chosen ones. From New Zealand linen, the Maori make the traditional piu-piu skirt. Narrow strips are cut from a fresh green leaf, which are then scraped, soaked and painted. As a result, a thin long tube of white color with black transverse "belts" is obtained from each strip. About two hundred and forty such tubes are needed for one skirt. New Zealand flax has been cultivated since the end of the last century on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.
We learn from Herodotus, Strabo and Pliny the Elder that in ancient Greece flax grew unsightly, the fiber from it turned out to be low-grade, the fabrics were coarse. Nevertheless, the need for flax growing was huge because all the free women of Hellas loved to dress in linen, and the nobles also preferred only thin and expensive ones, for which the Hellenes bought flax in large quantities in Egypt. At the same time, flax of exceptionally high quality was grown in Ancient Colchis, and its finest linen went to all countries of the Ancient East. Why shouldn't he also come to the markets of Ancient Hellas? However, there are no indications in the chronicles on this matter, but there is only a legend about the Golden Fleece, or about the so-called campaign of the Argonauts. Some researchers perceived the legend as a kind of indication of the distant trade relations of the ancient Greeks with countries that produce gold. The second interpreted the golden fleece as rain clouds; still others believed that the golden fleece was nothing but sunlight; the fourth believed that the origin of the legend of the Golden Fleece was the desire of the second wife of King Amafant Ino to get rid of the stepchildren of Gella and Frix. As you know, their mother, the goddess of the clouds Nephele, saving the children, sends a golden-fleeced ram to transfer them from Hellas to Colchis: "They sat on the golden-fleeced ram Frike with her sister Gella, and the ram carried them through the air far to the north." ... A ram rushes above the mountains. A ram flies over the sea. Hella was frightened, unclenched her hands from fear and fell into the sea full. Since then, for a long time, the sea was called the Hellespont (that is, the Sea of Gella), and only recently has it been renamed the Dardanelles Strait. And the ram with Phrixus landed on the banks of the Phasis (the modern river Rion in the Caucasus), where Phrixus was hospitably received by the Colchis king Eet. Eet raised Phrixus, and sacrificed a golden ram to Zeus, the cloud-breaker. Eet hung the golden fleece from the ram in a sacred grove and entrusted it to the dragon, who never closed his eyes, to guard it. Therefore, according to the fourth, the golden fleece is nothing but the skin of a ram, which, according to legend, is immersed in a gold-bearing river for two days, dried and sold for more than gold. However, it is known that flax is soaked in the river for two days ... As for the skin, the longer it lies in the river, the more gold it will collect. In the myth, the leader of the Argonauts, Jason, wrapped the golden fleece in a cloak and hid it under his shirt as a light and compact little thing. You can't hide a sheep's skin with grains of gold stuck in it under a shirt so easily. It turns out that the golden fleece is not a fleece at all and has nothing to do with gold. Then what is it? According to Herodotus, in India, wild trees grow wool of a much better quality than sheep: and these trees supply people with clothes. By wild trees, the scientist, it turns out, had in mind bush cotton. Did the ancient Greek writers mean by the golden fleece, say, wool? Cotton? Or combed flax fiber? Could flax fiber look like a golden fleece and cost more than gold? The combed fiber of flax in sunlight, and even when illuminated in general, looks like a golden fleece. As for the price, let's turn to the facts. At the World Exhibition in London in 1851, some Helicopter and Bonte put linen yarn from the city of Kurte under No. 967 (that is, nine hundred and sixty-seven meters of which weighed one gram!). And Vakderklein Brisson from Belgium presented a lace handkerchief made of linen, weighing about fifty-six grams, which he sold for two thousand five hundred francs, that is, for seven hundred and twenty-five grams of gold. Where each gram of the product cost thirteen grams of gold. How much could the same yarn and fabric cost during the Trojan War in Hellas? As it was possible to clarify, it cost about five to six times more expensive than the precious metal. However, the thousandth number was not the limit for the ancient masters of flax spinning. It is known that they made fabric "air" from the five thousandth number of yarn. And the most precious was the sacred Egyptian cloth, royal linen from the fantastic nine thousandth number, the thread of which can only be seen under a microscope. The ancient Colchians and Egyptians knew a now unknown technological process for obtaining ultra-fine numbers of linen yarn. The ancient Greeks did not possess this secret, perhaps they were forced to send a secret expedition of the Argonauts to Colchis. Manuscripts, which described great discoveries, were then preferred to be kept in temples: the temple, in all likelihood, also contained the secrets of obtaining ultra-fine linen yarn. Only priests, kings - the deputies of the gods on earth - and members of their families had access to them. Therefore, in order to get the secret of making ultra-thin linen fabric, Jason needed to enter into friendship with one of the noble local residents, try to win him over and force him to find out and sell or give this great secret to the Argonauts. For the sacrifice, Jason chooses the daughter of the Colchis king, the beautiful Medea. But Medea was unable to help the Hellenes, despite the fact that she knew very well the technology for making the most unique linen yarn. It could not, because to obtain it, high-grade types of flax were needed, which grew in abundance in Colchis, but due to the difference in climatic conditions they could not grow in Hellas. The campaign of the Argonauts turned out to be useless, Medea's attempts were powerless. And the last thing: the word "fleece" was not known to the ancient Greeks. It was brought from Colchis and by the time the legend of the Argonauts was created, it had taken root in the ancient Greek language. The blue halo of linen, the Hellenes believed, corresponds to the blue color of the sky, and they preferred linen clothes to all others because they are beautiful, durable, light and breathable. Author: Krasikov S.
Linen. reference Information
Even in ancient times, the attention of man was attracted by a thin, slender plant, bending in the wind to the very ground and straightening up again. This plant was easy to uproot from the ground, but difficult to tear. What gave strength and amazing elasticity to a thin stalk of a light blade of grass? When the stem is broken, the wood crunches in the middle, and the green bast of the bark, like that of the linden, is very strong. It cannot be broken across, while it can be easily divided into thin threads along. This plant is flax. "... Who is not familiar with bright, juicy greens, by which one can still recognize from a distance a strip sown with flax? Who has not seen near its thin, slender blades of grass with blue, slightly drooping flowers? Who has not had in their hands his smooth, shiny, as if polished seeds? - so K. A. Timiryazev asked his listeners at his lecture on flax. And if you, the reader, have not seen flax, get to know this wonderful plant in the coming summer. In the middle and northern parts of Russia, a tall unbranched flax grows in the fields, called the long flax. A long fiber is obtained from the stem of such flax. A thin, completely straight stem only at the very tip has branches with narrow leaves and blue flowers. Flax blooms only half a day. Then, instead of flowers, green boxes with seeds containing up to 40 percent oil appear. Boiled linseed oil dries quickly and is used to make oil paints. In the south, flax is cultivated for seeds to produce oil from them. Here the flax is low, but very branchy, and they call it curly flax. In Russia, there are up to forty-five different types of wild flax, among which there are perennial and creeping ones. Climate, living conditions change the appearance of the plant, affect the emergence of new forms, new plant species. A humid climate with moderate illumination through a veil of clouds is especially favorable for the growth of fiber flax. Moreover, fiber length and fineness depend on lateral shading. Therefore, flax is sown thickly in the north. Thick sowing prevents branching of flax stems. The same phenomenon is observed in the forest with slender, tall trunks of pines and birches. Flax goes through many changes in the process of turning from a green plant to a white heavy linen or light cambric. As soon as the flax seed boxes begin to turn slightly yellow, it is pulled out of the ground with a short root. Previously, flax was pulled (pulled out) by hand, which was very hard work. At present, such work is carried out on collective farms by pulling machines. The fruits-boxes are combed from the stems with special combs. To separate the bast fibers from the wood, flax is wetted. Previously, flax was spread on meadows or lowered into reservoirs, now flax mills produce a lobe of flax in special concreted wetlands with warm water. In stems moistened with dew in a meadow or lowered into water, bacteria begin to multiply, which dissolve the substances that stick together flax fibers. On flax stalks pulled out of the water and dried, fine fibers are easily separated from the wood. The stems are crumpled on machines between ribbed rollers and receive fiber with pieces of broken wood. Then the flax is beaten with machines with wooden blades resembling the wings of a windmill, separating pieces of wood (fire) from the fiber. The fiber is combed on combs with iron needles in several rows, getting a long fiber and a tow. Flax lobe, wrinkling, scutching and tow fibers are produced at flax mills. The fiber from the flax mill goes to the spinning and weaving mill, where threads are spun from the fiber, and fabrics are woven from the threads.
In the old days, a thread was twisted from fiber with fingers, winding it around a spindle. Canvas and linen were woven by hand on a simple loom placed in a residential hut. A snow-white heavy linen is obtained from flax fibers; tablecloths, wearable and bed linen are sewn from the linen. Flax, densely sown and removed from the field during flowering, gives a particularly delicate fiber that goes to thin, light cambric. Flax is the most ancient cultivated plant after wheat. Its culture is 9000 years old. Flax cultivation first began in the highlands of India. In India, they have long learned how to make the finest fabrics. Seven thousand years ago, flax was already known in Assyria and Babylonia, from where it penetrated into Egypt, where linen fabrics began to displace woolen fabrics that were previously common there. Egyptian pharaohs, priests and noble people wore linen clothes. Their mummies, found in sarcophagus tombs, were bandaged with linen. The Phoenicians, and then the Greeks and Romans, made ship sails from linen. In ancient times, Colchis and Lankaran (Transcaucasia) were famous for their flax, flax was also known to the Scythians who lived in the south of the Russian plain. The ancient Slavs loved snow-white linen fabrics and cultivated flax, setting aside the best, ash-fertilized land for it - pal, or burnt - after a burnt forest. If linen fabrics in Egypt were a luxury item, then among the Slavs of pre-Kievan Rus they served as clothing for the people. Cloths in ancient Rus' were made especially durable. This is evidenced by the legend recorded in the annals. Prince Oleg, after the victory over Constantinople, going on his way back, ordered to make sails for plows from silk and dyed Greek linen. The wind in the sea tore these sails, while the sails of Russian linen withstood all the winds and storms of this voyage. No wonder foreign travelers have long been surprised at the amount of flax cultivated in Rus'. The English traveler Richard Chancellor, who visited Russia in the XNUMXth century, wrote in his book "Trade in Muscovy": "To the west of Kholmogory is the city of Novgorod, near which fine flax grows ... Dutch merchants have their own storage house in Novgorod; Novgorod and leather, as well as in the city of Pskov, in the vicinity of which there is a great abundance of flax. In Russia at the beginning of the 1909th century, linen raw materials - fiber - were sold abroad, and then Dutch linen and French cambric made from this linen were bought. This is indicated by the following small numbers. In the period from 1913 to 6, the countries of Western Europe produced 15 million poods of flax fiber, and exported 1,4 million poods from Russia, that is, two and a half times more. Even Belgium, long known for its flax, produced 4,7 million poods, and imported 18 million poods. Russian factories processed only XNUMX percent of domestic flax into fabrics. The oil pressed from flaxseeds has a remarkable property - when it dries and under the influence of oxygen, it turns into a solid rubber-like mass. This mass is fused with resins, wood and cork "flour" (fillers), applied to the fabric, pressed and polished. It turns out linoleum, which covers the floors and walls. Linoleum is very durable. Linoleum covering the steps of the stairs is less erased than steps made of marble. The name "linoleum" comes from the Latin name for flax - "linum" and from the word "olea", meaning "oil". By boiling linseed oil, they get the best drying oil for oily, fast-drying and durable paints. Thus, linseed oil is not only used for food, but it is also a very valuable technical raw material. Author: Verzilin N.
Linen. Legends, the birthplace of the plant, the history of distribution
In the old days in Rus' they liked to make a riddle: "They eat the head, throw the body, and wear the skin. What is it?" Let's try to solve the riddle, just start from the end. The rich inhabitants of Ancient Egypt were proud to wear clothes made of amazing fabric: it quickly absorbed moisture and evaporated it just as easily. On a cool night, it warmed, and on a scorching noon, it cooled a heated body. Clothes from this fabric were also worn in Ancient Rus'. Only here it was not at all rare, but the most ordinary peasant clothing. In Russian villages, they also knew how to make more elegant linen - cambric. With its softness, subtlety and brilliance, it resembled expensive overseas silk, for which it was called northern silk. Russian lace has long been famous - light, airy, as if woven from cobwebs. These laces and fabrics had a remarkable property: over the years, they not only did not turn yellow, like products made from other fibers, but, on the contrary, became even whiter and silkier. All of them were made from the same plant - flax. So we come to the answer to the last part of the riddle: "Skin is worn." True, flax has no skin. So in the riddle are called long and strong bundles of fibers located under the outer layer of the stem. The fibers are separated from the stem. Fabrics are made from them, and the stem is thrown into the waste. This is the solution to the second part of the riddle: "The body is thrown." Flax fibers have many professions. For centuries sailors have been faithfully served by sails. They were sewn from extra strong linen fabric. That's what it was called - canvas. Now sailing ships are no longer being built, and canvas is still valued. She goes to tourist jackets and trousers, to tents and covers for cars. Wherever water resistance is needed, canvas is required. And from a denser linen fabric - tarpaulin - they sew clothes for fishermen, make fire hoses and drive belts for engines.
Well, what about the beginning of the riddle - "they eat their heads"? When flax ripens, fruit-boxes grow on the tops of the stems. The boxes contain seeds. Once they were eaten, as now they gnaw seeds. Then they learned to squeeze oil out of them - golden, with a smell reminiscent of walnuts. If linseed oil is boiled for a long time, it thickens and turns, like hemp oil, into drying oil. Linseed oil is the best. The paint prepared on it acquires amazing durability: it is not afraid even of the destructive action of salty sea water. Therefore, sea ships are painted with it. Since ancient times, flax has been highly valued by many peoples. But nowhere did he get accustomed as in Russia. There are so many songs written about him. But it turns out, flax flax strife. And not every flax composed songs. There are two types of flax. One has a tall, slender stem. It gives long fibers, which are most appreciated by textile workers. This is fiber flax. The other has a short, branched, curly stem. That's what they called him - flax-curly. Its fiber is worse than that of the fiber, but there are a lot of seeds. Flax-curly loves a hot and dry climate, such as in Central Asia or in the steppes of Ukraine. And the dolgunets prefers cool summers with frequent rains. And the further north it is grown, the higher the quality of its "skin". The best fiber is obtained in the Vologda and Yaroslavl regions. It was fiber flax that became famous in Russian songs. It is his fabrics that are called northern silk for their brilliance and beauty. Author: Osipov N.F.
Linen. Application in cosmetology
Previously, in the villages of the temperate zone in the flax-growing regions, nutritious masks made from flaxseed enjoyed well-deserved fame. Such masks help smooth out premature wrinkles, protect the face from inflammation in the cold wind, the sun. They take two tablespoons of flax seeds, pour 0,5 liters of water and boil until the seed is boiled. The resulting porridge is rubbed and hot applied (as soon as possible) with a thin layer on the face and neck. The mask is kept for 25-30 minutes until completely cooled, washed off with warm water and rinsed with cold water, which is dried with a soft towel. With the expansion of the vessels of the skin of the face, a hot mask is not recommended, a cold mask is used. The most famous in cosmetic practice was flaxseed milk. The seeds were ground with water until a homogeneous liquid milk-like mass was obtained. Lubrication of the face with this "milk" gave the skin freshness and softness, protected from inflammation and chapping. Wash the face with a hot decoction of flaxseed, rinsing afterwards with cold water. Author: Reva M.L.
Common flax (sowing flax), Linum usitatissimum. Recipes for use in traditional medicine and cosmetology
Ethnoscience:
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Attention! Before use, consult with a specialist!
Common flax (sowing flax), Linum usitatissimum. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing
Common flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an annual plant of the Flaxseed (Linaceae) family, which is grown for flax, a fibrous material from which fabrics, ropes, paper are made, as well as for the production of food and medical products. Cultivation:
Preparation and storage:
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