June 12, 2018

Fairy Flax



In a meadow full of flowers there are very little white flowers amidst the yellow Horseshoe Vetches (Hippocrepis comosa).






Fairy Flax (Linum catharticum) is a real flax with thin stalks ans narrow opposite leaves. It is common in this kind of meadow, especially on limestone soil, and it flowers nearly all summer.





Before flowering the flower stems are turned downwards. They turn upwards again when the flower opens.






You have to kneel down and use a magnifying glass to see its details, but when you do this, you see it is really a beauty.






The fruit is a nearly round capsule that opens into five carpels releasing the seeds. It looks exactly like the fruits of other, larger, Flaxes.