Linum strictum, Upright Flax,
Hebrew: פשתה אשונה, Arabic: كتان
Scientific name:  Linum strictum L.
Common name:  Upright Flax
Hebrew name:  פשתה אשונה
Arabic name:  كتان
Family:  Linaceae, פשתיים

Israel Flowers, Linum strictum, Upright Flax, كتان ,פשתה אשונה
Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve

Life form:   Therophyte, annual
Stems:  10–45 cm high, robust, seldom branched
Leaves:  Alternate, entire, minutely serrulated margins
Inflorescence:  A dense, spike-like cyme or a corymb
Flowers:  Sessile or subsessile, thick pedicels, sepals 4–6 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate; petals 6–12 mm long; yellow
Fruits / pods:  subglobose capsule 2-2.5 mm long
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral

Linum strictum, Upright Flax, كتان ,פשתה אשונה
Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve


Derivation of the botanical name:
Linum , the Latin name for flax.
strictum, strict , "pulled together, close; rigid", drawn close together, very upright.
The Hebrew name: פשתה, pistu; Akkadian language: pistu, Phoenician language: foist.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Linum strictum, Upright Flax, פשתה אשונה, كتان
Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve