114 Transactions. 



Aet. XVII. — On the Utilization of tJie Phormium tenax. 

 By W. T. L. Teayees, E.L.S. 



[^Read before the Fhilosopliical Itistitute of Canterhury, 1864.*] 



In considering the natural resources of tMs colony, there is nothing more 

 calculated to arrest attention than the abundance and general distribution of 

 the plant popularly known as the New Zealand Elax ; and we find, in effect, 

 from a perusal of the various works which have been published on New 

 Zealand, that this plant has always been looked upon with very great 

 interest both in the colony and in Europe. The interest thus created is due 

 to the presence in the leaves of the plant of a large quantity of woody 

 tissue, analogous to that produced from the hemp ; and many attempts haye 

 accordingly from time to time been made to utilize this tissue. I will not 

 venture to go into the causes which have hitherto rendered these attempts 

 abortive, but I may remark that they have had the unfortunate effect of 

 checking further enterprise, by creating an opinion that the fibre cannot be 

 separated from the leaves, in a state fit for manufacturing purposes, except 

 at a cost far exceeding its value. One cause of failure, however, I will 

 notice, namely, that the capital hitherto employed in our local flax-works has 

 been too small to test its value in a satisfactory manner ; for it may be laid 

 down as a postulate, that no article of commerce requiring new appliances to 

 render it useful will find a market in England unless manufacturers there 

 can be assured of a large and continuous supply. 



In using the word "flax," as applied to the Phormium tenax, it must not 

 be supposed that the plant belongs to the natural order LinacecB. It belongs 

 to the order Liliacece of Jussieu, and is botanically described by Dr. J. D. 

 Hooker in his work on the flora of New Zealand. In this description. Dr. 

 Hooker particularly notices the existence of the fibre which gives its principal 

 interest to the plant, and the gummy exudation which has been looked upon 

 as a detrimental quality in the leaf. Now, in considering whether this fibre 

 can be turned to useful commercial purposes, we are led to inquire, in the 

 first place, into the question of supply of the raw leaf. Those who have had 

 any opportunity of travelling over these islands, cannot fail to have been 

 struck with the extensive distribution of the PJiormium tenax. In almost 

 every locality, whether on the mountain side or in the river bed, in the 

 narrow valley or on the broad plain, we see it growing more or less abun-' 

 dantly. In many places, thousands of acres continuously are covered with it • 

 and it would not be too much to say that within a few miles of Christchurch 



* The exact date of the reading of this and the two following papers before the 

 Philosophical Institute of Canterbury had not been ascertained at the time of their being 

 sent to press. — Ed. 



