Editing Linum (section)

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{About||the town of ancient Mysia|Linum (Mysia)|the town in Germany|Linum (village)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Linum_pubescens.jpg
|image_caption = ''[[Linum pubescens]]''
|taxon = Linum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = about 200, see text
}}

'''''Linum''''' ('''flax''') is a [[genus]] of approximately 200 species<ref name=jeps>[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?4965,4980 ''Linum''.] The Jepson Manual.</ref><ref>Muravenko, O. V., et al. (2010). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S1022795410100091#page-1 Karyogenomics of species of the genus ''Linum'' L.] ''Russian Journal of Genetics'' 46(10), 1182-85.</ref> in the [[flowering plant]] family [[Linaceae]]. They are native to [[Temperateness|temperate]] and [[Subtropics|subtropical]] regions of the world. The genus includes the [[flax|common flax]] (''L. usitatissimum''), the [[bast fibre]] of which is used to produce [[linen]] and the seeds to produce [[linseed oil]].
[[File:Linum narbonense flor.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Linum narbonense]]'']]
The flowers of most species are blue or yellow, rarely red, white, or pink, and some are [[heterostylous]]. There is an average of 6 to 10 seeds per boll.

''Linum'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including the [[cabbage moth]], [[nutmeg (moth)|the nutmeg]], the [[setaceous Hebrew character]] and ''[[Coleophora striolatella]]'', which feeds exclusively on ''[[Linum narbonense]]''.