ABSTRACT
The use of flax for food, fiber and medicine reaches back to the most remote periods of history and true to its domestic name Linum usitatissimum (pronounced LY-num yewsi-ta-Tiss-i-mum) has proven itself to be both the most used and the most useful of the Linum genus. As early peoples experimented with many plants to determine which were suitable to eat, other properties were also discovered and used to humankind’s advantage. Recorded history is not likely to disclose the first utilization of flax.
