Flax-breeding efforts in the past have been directed toward varieties with high linolenic acid content required by paint manufacturers to impart quick-drying qualities to linseed oil. To develop new varieties with oil suitable for other industrial uses and possible use in the human diet, over 1,500 cultivated flax strains and 35 wild species were collected, screened, and analyzed by the Department of Agronomy, University of California, Riverside.