Species of herbaceous annual, native to the area of the eastern Mediterranean and India; probably first cultivated in the Fertile Crescent. The plant grows to 4 m in height, bears blue flowers succeeded by pods that contain the seeds. It is cultivated both for its fiber, from which linen yarn and fabric are made, and for its seed, the source of linseed oil, which is an edible oil used as a nutritional supplement and as an ingredient in painting and many wood finishing products. Evidence of its use has been found in the prehistoric sites in Georgia and Switzerland. Fine linen fabrics are common in ancient Egyptian tombs. It was brought to Gaul and Britain by Phoenician traders; the Romans introduced linen manufacture throughout their empire. By the 17th century, linen manufacturing was an important industry in Western Europe.
