Linum corymbulosum Rchb.
كتان
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Limited fodder
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
No reliable information on whether people eat this small wild flax was found, and nothing on its toxicity; it is not the cultivated flax (linseed) and should not be eaten. The Omani field guide lists it simply as grazed by livestock; it is a slender annual that offers little forage, and no other source on its fodder value or on any harm to animals was found.
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Description
An annual herb 10-30 cm tall with a pale slender taproot, simple erect stems that are glabrous or sparsely pubescent with corymbosely branched apices. Leaves are alternate, narrowly lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm long, with yellow flowers in cymose corymbs.
Habitat
Mountains, among rocks, and in sandy and stony depressions; in northern Oman recorded from Musandam and Jabal Akhdar. In Europe it grows in dry grassland on limestone.
Distribution
Native to southern Europe to Xinjiang and Western Himalaya, and the Arabian Peninsula, including Afghanistan, Cyprus, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, and Central Asia.
Pastoral value
Listed as grazed by livestock in the Omani field guide; no further information on its forage value was found.
Other uses
No significant traditional or economic uses documented.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.134)
- GBIF backbone — Linum corymbulosum Rchb. (name match) — api.gbif.org
- GBIF — Linum corymbulosum descriptions (Flora Iberica vol. IX) — api.gbif.org
- GBIF — Linum corymbulosum distributions (WCVP, Catalogue of Life) — api.gbif.org
- GBIF — Linum corymbulosum specimen records from Oman — api.gbif.org