Flax

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an ancient crop grown for seed and oil and for the strong fiber produced in its stems. The plant was domesticated approximately 7,000 years ago. The ancient Egyptians produced fabrics from flax including linen, which they used to wrap their dead for embalming. Flax was introduced to North America by the earliest European settlers and has been produced in the U.S. and Canada since then. It was grown as early as 1617 in Quebec and moved across the continent with settlers in the 1800s. Flax was always one of the first crops settlers planted as they broke prairie sod throughout the upper Midwest, Great Plains, and Canadian Prairies.Published February 2008. Reviewed May 2014. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Canola [2008]

Rapeseed and canola are closely related members of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) that are both grown as oilseed crops. All current varieties of rapeseed and canola were developed from Brassica napus and Brassica rapa. Rapeseed is grown primarily as a source of erucic acid, which is not edible but is valuable in high-performance industrial lubricants. In the early 1970s, Canadian plant breeders used conventional breeding techniques to remove the anti-nutritional erucic acid and bitter glucosinolates from rapeseed. Removing these compounds resulted in an oilseed crop that produced edible oil low in saturated fats and a very palatable, high-protein meal for animal feed. They coined the word canola (for Canadian oil low acid) to describe a crop that is low in both compounds.Published February 2008. A more recent revision exists. Please Look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Camelina

Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is native from Finland to Romania and east to the Ural Mountains. It was first cultivated in northern Europe during the Bronze Age. The seeds were crushed and boiled to release oil for food, medicinal use, and lamp oil. It is still a relatively common weed in much of Europe, known as false flax or gold-of-pleasure. Although it was widely grown in Europe and Russia until the 1940s, camelina was largely displaced by higher-yielding crops after World War II. Its decline in Europe was accelerated by farm subsidy programs that favored the major commodity grain and oilseed crops.Published January 2008. Reviewed May 2014. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Growing meadowfoam in the Willamette Valley

Revised April 1997. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo