Twelve interspecific hybrids obtained by crossing 9 different 30-chromosome species of the genus Linum were studied in detail for important morphological characters like, tillering, height, secondary branching, oil content, rust resistance, pollen and seed sterility in the hybrids. L. strictum appeared to be important from the viewpoint of improvement of the cultivated linseeds with regard to number of tillers. The oil content in different species ranged from 24.6% in L. palliscence to 37.1% in L. angustifolium. The fact that L. angustifolium tops the list of the wild species in oil content seems to lend support to the view that it is one of the progenitors of L. usitatissimum.