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| Phormium tenax | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Piha, New Zealand | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asphodelaceae |
| Subfamily: | Hemerocallidoideae |
| Genus: | Phormium |
| Species: | P. tenax
|
| Binomial name | |
| Phormium tenax | |
Phormium tenax (called flax in New Zealand English; harakeke in Māori; New Zealand flax[1][2] outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp[1] 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.[3] 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.[3]
Despite being commonly known as 'flax', harakeke is of the genus Phormium and is a leaf fibre, whereas flax (linen) is of the genus Linum and is a bast fibre (which comes from the stem of the plant). The two plants have no 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[4][2] after the arrival of Europeans until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific Islands and in Australia.[5]
The blades of the plant contain cucurbitacins, which are poisonous to some animals, and some of them are among the bitterest tastes to humans.[6]
- ^ a b "Phormium tenax". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- ^ a b Chitham, Karl (2019). Crafting Aotearoa : a cultural history of making in New Zealand and the wider Moana Oceania. Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, Damian Skinner, Rigel Sorzano. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-9941362-7-5. OCLC 1118996645.
- ^ a b Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim. 2005. California Home Landscaping, Creative Homeowner Press ISBN 978-1-58011-254-3
- ^ "Our Flax for the Navy | NZETC".
- ^ "Phormium tenax (PIER species info)". Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). 9 January 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ Kupchan, S.Morris; Meshulam, Haim; Sneden, Albert T. (1978). "New cucurbitacins from Phormium tenax and Marah oreganus". Phytochemistry. 17 (4): 767–769. Bibcode:1978PChem..17..767K. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)94223-7.