DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



2H1 



ioned into baskets. In China the fiber is used for brushes. The leaves of P. paludosa 

 supplies material for rough ropes in the' Sundarbans, which are used for securing 

 boats, logs, etc., and its leaves are also employed for thatching. P. sylvestris, the 

 wild date, is an India and Ceylon species. In Bengal its leaves are used for baskets, 

 mats, and bags, and in Bombay for brooms, brushes, and fans. The fiber is also 

 adapted for paper making. 



phormium tenax. New Zealand Flax. 



Endogen. Liliacece. A liliaceous plant growing in bunches. 



Native names. — Nearly sixty native names are enumerated by Dr. Hector. 

 Among these may be mentioned: Aliraukawa or Haiiraukawa, used for finest 

 mats; Harakelce, name of all but the WharariM form; JSuhiroa, long fiber, mats, 

 fishing lines, etc.; UuruhuruJcika, for rough garments; Korako, for best gar- 

 ments; Ngutunui, for best garments, quick grower; One, narrow leaf, fine fiber, 

 next to Tapoto; Pare- 



lib 



taniwha, strong fiber 



for fishing lines, 



nets, etc. ; llataroa, 



from East Cape, and 



the strongest of all. 



Taihore, light green 



leaf, with wide black 



edge ; Tapoto, leaves 



narrow, deep purple 



margin; Tarariki , 



tineandsoft; Tihore, 



plant of any varie- 

 ty, in Waikato best 



var. cultivated. 



WharariM, weak fi- 

 ber; etc. The fiber 



is known as Mwka. 



Harakeke is the com- 

 mon variety of the 



lowlands; Paritane- 



wlia, the yellow var. 



of the high regions 



or hills, and Taihore 



the best quality. 

 Native of New Zealand, 

 and found on Norfolk Is- 

 land and in other portions 

 of Australia. Distributed 

 to the Azores, St. Helena, 

 Algiers, South France, and 



introduced in 1798 into the south of Ireland. Thrives on the Pacific Coast (California) 

 where it is cultivated as a tie plant. In its native countries it is never found far from 

 the sea. Captain Cook first brought this fiber to the notice of Europeans, he having 

 found it in common use by the natives of New Zealand, as he speaks of "a grass 

 plant like flags, the nature of flax or hemp, but -superior in quality to either, of 

 which the natives make clothing, lines, etc." It also flourishes on the west coast of 

 Scotland, though the winters have occasionally been too severe for it. The leaves 

 of the plant in Ireland grow to 5, 6, 7, and 8 feet high, and it is propagated by offsets 

 which are not removed until the parent is 4 years old. Fig. 2, PL VII, is a green- 

 house plant of New Zealand flax. 



S'lKUCTUKAX, Fiber. — New Zealand flax fiber is almost white in color, flexible, soft, 



Fig. 89.- 



-The date palm 



Phoenix dactyli.; 



