General Chat

Please can someone identify a crop growing near here? It's in full bloom now with 5 small rounded petals that form a fully-open white flower about the size of a 5p piece.
The leaves seem to be long and straight, about 3mm wide and approx.4cms long.and dull mid green.
Each plant is about 15 inches tall on a thin wispy stem.

The whole crop covers several fields and sort of shimmers, like fields of flax.
Is this just a white variety, ...or something different.?
It's certainly a new one in local fields, which are flat and in previous years have had sheep grazing or a crop of oil seed rape.

Any ideas? I'm just curious....


Gwyn

Hi Gwyn
I have no idea really but because I am sitting here procrastinating, googling 'white flax' allowed me to ponder some more instead of getting on.
I found pictures which look as if your guess at white flax could be right - a picture showing a field of it looked lovely, and a picture of one plant showed a rather flimsy stem.

xx

Lyndi,
Thanks for looking.
I think it probably is flax. I'll have to see if I can find out more about this 'new' crop. Maybe it's all about diversity. Certainly the Romney Marsh has alot more crops in recent years,
whereas it used to be largely pasture for sheep rearing.

Gwyn

Glad you asked that question Gwyn, on the way to Hampshire last weekend, near Worthy Down there is a field with a crop just like that and we couldn't make out what it was. White Flax, makes sense, so thanks.

Ann,
I'll look out for that when I'm down that way.
It's a new one for me.
I've seen the mauve / blue flax many times, but not this one.

I wonder what they use it for?

Gwyn

Looking on the web linseed was mentioned, could it be linseed oil?

That would make sense.
I'll have a more thorough browse on Google tomorrow.

Gwyn

Ann ,

Linseed is blue.... It could be Hemp ?

Marilyn, on the web site it said
"We sometimes grow varieties of linseed with white flowers"

OK Ann,

I've never seen white Linseed before,
The farmer in the field at the back of my barn grows blue linseed or Yellow Rape seeds.
So that's new to me, I would love to see a mass of white that would make a lovely change ......

But Hemp has a white flower as well .

Hi
No idea what it is but, I passed a field of poppies in Fife over the weekend,mass of orange/red.

Hi Gwyn, Linseed shimmers but is usually blueish.... then violet. Young broad beans shimmer too, grey or white leaves, but harden up to green. Where are they? I'll drive and have a look!!!

Hi Helen,
OH noticed them whilst out cycling then detoured that way to show me when we were travelling from Sussex.
The fields were on the north side of Burmarsh Road, Hythe., just east of Cinderella Farm.
This road is off A259 and runs between Prince of Wales pub and the Botolphs Bridge pub.


Gwyn