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Phormium tenax
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Phormium tenax
Phormium tenax (called flax in New Zealand English; harakeke in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant. The plant grows as a clump of long, straplike leaves, up to two metres long, from which arises a much taller flowering shoot, with dramatic yellow or red flowers.
Despite being commonly known as 'flax', harakeke is of the genus Phormium, a monocot, and is a leaf fibre, whereas flax (linen) is of the genus Linum, a rosid, and is a bast fibre (which comes from the stem of the plant). The two plants have an evolutionary extremely distant relationship with each other.
The fibre has been widely used since the arrival of Māori to New Zealand, originally in Māori traditional textiles and also in rope and sail making after the arrival of Europeans until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific Islands and in Australia.
The blades of the plant contain cucurbitacins, which are poisonous to some animals, and some of them are among the bitterest tastes to humans.
Phormium tenax J.R.Forst & G.Forst was described in 1776 by Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster, who were the father and son team of German botanists on the second voyage of James Cook.
The hara in the Māori name harakeke is a remnant of the Austronesian root *paŋudaN (via Proto-Oceanic *padran) surviving in related languages referring to pandanus plants with similar characteristics of sheathing leaves also used for weaving (like Pandanus tectorius, also known as hala in Hawaiian), as New Zealand was one of the only places where pandanus was not available.
The jumping spider Trite planiceps lives predominantly in the rolled-up leaves of this species. Phormium tenax is a coastal cover plant associated with significant habitat such as the breeding habitat for the endangered yellow-eyed penguin.
New Zealand flax was one of the most commonly used fibres for weaving prior to European contact in New Zealand, due to its wide availability and long strands. Harakeke can be woven raw to create open-weave items (where the para or the waterproof epidermis of the plant is kept intact), or processed so only the muka remains, for close-weave objects. The broad length of harakeke leaves allow weavers to create a variety of strip lengths, making the plant suitable for a range of objects and sizes.
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Phormium tenax AI simulator
(@Phormium tenax_simulator)
Phormium tenax
Phormium tenax (called flax in New Zealand English; harakeke in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant. The plant grows as a clump of long, straplike leaves, up to two metres long, from which arises a much taller flowering shoot, with dramatic yellow or red flowers.
Despite being commonly known as 'flax', harakeke is of the genus Phormium, a monocot, and is a leaf fibre, whereas flax (linen) is of the genus Linum, a rosid, and is a bast fibre (which comes from the stem of the plant). The two plants have an evolutionary extremely distant relationship with each other.
The fibre has been widely used since the arrival of Māori to New Zealand, originally in Māori traditional textiles and also in rope and sail making after the arrival of Europeans until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific Islands and in Australia.
The blades of the plant contain cucurbitacins, which are poisonous to some animals, and some of them are among the bitterest tastes to humans.
Phormium tenax J.R.Forst & G.Forst was described in 1776 by Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster, who were the father and son team of German botanists on the second voyage of James Cook.
The hara in the Māori name harakeke is a remnant of the Austronesian root *paŋudaN (via Proto-Oceanic *padran) surviving in related languages referring to pandanus plants with similar characteristics of sheathing leaves also used for weaving (like Pandanus tectorius, also known as hala in Hawaiian), as New Zealand was one of the only places where pandanus was not available.
The jumping spider Trite planiceps lives predominantly in the rolled-up leaves of this species. Phormium tenax is a coastal cover plant associated with significant habitat such as the breeding habitat for the endangered yellow-eyed penguin.
New Zealand flax was one of the most commonly used fibres for weaving prior to European contact in New Zealand, due to its wide availability and long strands. Harakeke can be woven raw to create open-weave items (where the para or the waterproof epidermis of the plant is kept intact), or processed so only the muka remains, for close-weave objects. The broad length of harakeke leaves allow weavers to create a variety of strip lengths, making the plant suitable for a range of objects and sizes.
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