Cross, —Investigations on Phormium. 61 



Art. VI. — Investigations on Phormium. 



By Miss B. D. Cross, M.A. 



[Rend before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 2nd December, 1914.] 



[Abstract. | 



It is a remarkable fact that no one lias ever attempted to make a thorough 

 botanical study of Phormium, the so-called New Zealand flax, although 

 from time to time botanists have pointed out the necessity of such an in- 

 vestigation on a plant of so great economic importance. The present paper 

 is a brief abstract of a much larger thesis which records the result of my 

 researches in 1910-11. The complete MS. has been lodged in the Dominion 

 Museum, Wellington, where it may be consulted by any one who wishes 

 to carry on further research on Phormium. The whole paper is itself only 

 introductory, as a complete knowledge of Phormium can be obtained only 

 by means of careful observations extending over several years. It must 

 also be pointed out that my work on Phormium has been almost entirely 

 from the botanical standpoint. 



The following, then, is a brief outline of the paper : — 



Historical. 



The first part is mainly historical, and deals with previously published 

 books and pamphlets relating to the subject. Some few of these are short 

 accounts of points of botanic interest, but for the most part they are con- 

 cerned only with the qualities of New Zealand flax as a fibre-bearing plant. 

 Although Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks both mention and shortly 

 describe the New Zealand flax, the first really scientific account of Phormium 

 was given by Labillardiere, one of the naturalists of the expedition (1791-92) 

 of the '" Recherche " and the l ' Esperance " in search of the ill-fated La 

 Perouse. Labillardiere also grew the plant successfully in France, and 

 accords it the highest praise. He says, " The flax of New Zealand holds the 

 first place among the vegetable fibres known suitable for making rope." 



Later papers deal mainly with Phormium from the economic standpoint. 

 The most important of these is the work of Hector (1872), who under- 

 took the compilation of the reports of the Commissioners who were appointed 

 by the Government in 1869 and 1870 wi to investigate and report on 

 all matters relating to the manufacture and cultivation of New Zealand 

 flax/' This is the largest and most comprehensive work on this subject 

 that has yet been published. It contains a good account of the cultivation 

 of the plant and of its chemical properties, but the sections in which it is 

 considered from a botanical standpoint must be considered very unsatis- 

 factory. 



To this historical sketch I have added a short account of the history 

 of the flax industry and a brief outline of the chief processes concerned 

 in the preparation of Phormium fibre, with the state of the industry at 

 the present time. 



The next section deals with the Phormium swamps and with the culti- 

 vation of the plant. It is enough to state here that Phormium has never- 

 been extensivelv cultivated in New Zealand, although it is well known 



