This is the plant upon which civilization was built. Lake dwellers of Switzerland made rope and fishnet from its fibrous stems and prepared a delicate oil from its seeds. Fabric was woven for wrapping Egyptian mummies and for making fine linen to clothe ancient noblemen of China. The Romans gave it a name, linum, which means " line or rope," and from that came such words as linen, lingerie, lint and linseed oil. Native Americans used its fibers for much the same reason as the Chinese.

Common flax is a perennial that escaped cultivation, as it is known to frequently stray from fields.

The Escambia region is not known for its flax production so everything found on the Coastal Plain would compel us to believe it's a native plant. Occasionally wild flax will have a blue flower, although the yellow variety is the most widespread in the Escambia, especially on meadows where herds of cattle graze. One might assume that in this area seeds are brought in through feed lots or is mixed with grass seed at the time a pasture land is prepared for grazing.

The plants are upright, smooth, branching annuals or perennial. Its upper leaves are alternate on the stem and lower leaves are opposite, linear in shape; no leaf stalk. The flowers are arranged in panicles; five sepals and five petals. Flowering occurs in May and extends into summer. Preferred habitat is prairies, glades and rocky woods.