Short answers, pulled from the story.
Humans have used flax as a textile for at least 30,000 years. Spun, dyed, and knotted wild flax fibers found in Dzudzuana Cave in the present-day Republic of Georgia date to the Upper Paleolithic and represent the oldest known evidence of any plant fiber being worked into textile.
Flax was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent region. Evidence of domesticated oilseed flax with increased seed size comes from Tell Ramad in Syria, and flax fabric fragments from Catalhoyuk in Turkey date to approximately 9,000 years ago.
France is by far the world's leading flax producer, accounting for seventy-five percent of global output. In 2022, world production of raw or retted flax reached 875,995 tonnes, and the French region of Normandy alone accounts for nearly one-third of worldwide production.
Triffid is a deregistered genetically modified flax cultivar that was discovered contaminating Canadian flax exports in September 2009. Although Triffid had safety approval in Canada and the United States, European markets enforce a zero tolerance policy for unapproved genetically modified organisms. Canadian cultivars were reconstituted with Triffid-free seed used to plant the 2014 crop, and certified laboratories can now detect Triffid at a level of one seed in 10,000.
Flax seeds are especially rich in omega-3 fatty acids (specifically alpha-linolenic acid), dietary fiber, and protein. A 100-gram serving provides 534 kilocalories and contains thiamine, magnesium, and phosphorus at levels exceeding ninety percent of the recommended daily value.
Flax mills for spinning flaxen yarn were invented by John Kendrew and Thomas Porthouse of Darlington, England, in 1787.