Flax quantitative phenotypes

Data were collected at plant ripening stage (yellow ripe). For each accession 20 plants were harvested. Morphological traits characterizing plant productivity and fiber quality were measured for each accession. The measured traits were plant height, length of technical part of the stem, inflorescence length, number of bolls and seeds per plant, the diameter of the stem (at the top, at its middle part and at the butt), the number of internodes. The fiber quality was assessed by calculating stem slenderness, stem taperingnes and the length of ultimate fibers. The stem slenderness is a ratio of the length of the technical part of the stem to its diameter. The stem taperingness, the difference between the diameters in the lower and upper parts of the stem and estimates the uniformity of distribution of fibers along the length of the stem. The length of the ultimate fibers was determined using the formula of the three-factor dependence of the fiber quality on the length of internodes, technical length of the stem and its diameter. Oil content was measured gravimetrically upon solvent extraction procedure.