Linseed is the seed of the flax plant, a blue-flowered crop that has been grown for thousands of years. These small, flat, golden or brown seeds are packed with nutrients and oil.

When you crush linseed and extract its oil, you get linseed oil, which has been used for centuries in painting and woodworking. Artists mix linseed oil with pigments to make oil paints that dry slowly and create rich, lasting colors. The masters of the Renaissance used it, and painters still rely on it today. Woodworkers rub linseed oil into furniture to protect the wood and bring out its natural beauty.

People also eat linseed (often called flaxseed at the grocery store) for its health benefits. You might see it sprinkled on oatmeal or baked into bread. Ground linseed can even replace eggs in some baking recipes.

The flax plant itself provides another valuable product: its long fibers can be woven into linen, one of the oldest fabrics humans have made. So this single plant gives us food, art supplies, and cloth, all from different parts.