Notes on archaeobotany, etymology and lexicology of the genus Camelina Crantz

Abstract

The genus Camelina Crantz, colloquially referred to as false flax, belongs to the family Brassicaceae Burnett (syn. Cruciferae Juss.) and comprises several herbaceous species originating in Near East, Asia Minor and South Europe. C. sativa (L.) Crantz, usually referred to as camelina, false flax and goldof-pleasure, is one of the most ancient oil crops. The archaeological evidence of its presence in diverse ancient cultures and local agricultures is rich and enables tracing its spread throughout various ages and across the Old World. It is most likely that camelina followed common flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) during its spatial and temporal distribution, possibly adapting its growing habit to that of the latter and surviving as its weed-like companion. This may be confirmed by the etymology of the Greek word denoting camelina, consisting of χώμα (ground) and λινάριον (flax), depicting a lower competing ability of camelina when growing together with the flax crop. The material testimony of camelina ranges from Neolithic (eight millennia ago) to Roman and Medieval times and from Karakorum in Mongolia, over Armenia and Baltic coastline to the Iberian Peninsula. The common names denoting camelina in numerous ethnolinguistic families distinct the dark yellow or rusty colour of its flowers and seeds. This may be seen in modern languages, such as the Indo-European, with the German leindotter, the Italian dorella, the Russian ryzhik or the Sorbian žołtk, and the Uralic languages, with the Finnish ruistankio and the Hungarian sárgarepce.