576 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
leaves are cut when they have attained their full growth, and soaked 
in water for several days, to macerate the softer tissues and separate 
the fibres. The roots are used as a substitute for sarsaparilla. LP. 
cookianum was introduced in 1868. 
PHORMIUM COOKIANUM (Cook’s). Small Flax Lily. 
Leaves 2 to 3 feet long, rarely split at tip. Flower-scapes 
3 to 6 feet high; flowers yellow, sometimes with outer segments greenish, 
little more than an inch long; summer. The var. variegatwm has 
the leaves decorated with one or two marginal stripes of creamy 
white. 
Species, 
P. TENAX (tough). Leaves very tough, 3 to 6 feet or more long, 
usually split at the tip; dark green with reddish brown margin. 
Flowers variable, red and yellow, 2 inches long ; flower-scapes as high as 
16 feet; August. Entire plant larger and hardier than the foregoing 
species. Plate 267. There are several varieties: Var. atro-purpurewm 
has reddish purple leaves; var. nigro-pictum is smaller, with very dark 
purple margin, becoming broader towards base; var. variegatum 1s 
similar to the corresponding var. of P. cookianwm. 
These plants succeed best in a rich loamy soil. In the 
extreme South of England they are quite hardy in an 
ordinary garden. In other places it is well to grow them in tubs, 
which can be kept in the cool greenhouse or conservatory in winter, 
and placed outside in summer. They may be grown from seeds, or, 
when the clumps are large enough, the roots may be divided early in 
the year, before growth commences, and kept in the greenhouse until 
established. 
Description of Phormium tenax, the Common New Zealand Flax, 
Plate 267. reduced to about one-sixth of the natural size. The 
flowers are not shown. 
Cultivation, 
PLANTAIN LILIES 
Natural Order Lintacee. Genus Funkia 
FUNKIA (named in honour of H. Funck, a German botanist, 1771-1839). Pip 
A genus of about five species of Japanese herbs with tuberous roots, 
broad oval or heart-shaped leaves, and a tall flowering stem, usually 
leafless, but furnished with bracts, in the axils of which the flowers are 
produced solitarily, the whole cluster constituting a raceme. These 
flowers have a tubular, six-parted perianth; the six stamens and the 
