Fairy flax is also known as purging flax. In earlier days, its poisonous seeds was used as a laxative for helping chronic constipation. Fairy flax grows in various kinds of soils: calcium-rich dunes, wet valleys and inland dune grasslands. Despite the large variety of possible habitats, fairy flax has grown rare in the Netherlands. It is only commonly found in the dunes. This tiny flower grows in the same kind of places where other uncommon plants grow, such as glaucous sedge and quaking grass. As long as the area is relatively open, unfertilized, not too shaded and rich in calcium, fairy flax has a chance.