Phormium. | LILIACEAE. 321 
1. P. tenax Forst. Char. Gen. (1776) 48.—Leaves 3-9 ft. long or more, 
2-5 in. broad, linear-ensiform, acute or acuminate, apex slit when mature, 
distichous and equitant at the base, flat above, keeled, very tough and 
coriaceous, dark-green above, often glaucous beneath, margins and midrib 
bordered with a red or orange line. Scape very variable in height, 5-15 ft., 
glabrous, terete, reddish-purple. Flowers numerous, 1-2 in. long, usually 
dull-red. Inner perianth-segments erect or slightly recurved at the tip. 
Capsule erect or inclined, stout, trigonous, 2-4in. long, not twisted.— 
A. hich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. (1832) 153; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) n. 304; 
Raoul Choix (1846) 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 256; Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. (1864) 286; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 716. T vale. G. ts. an. 
NortH anp Souru Isianps, Stewart Isutanp, CHatHam Istanps, AUCKLAND as3. 
Istanps: Abundant throughout, especially in lowland swamps and alluvial grounds. “ 
Sea-level to 4500 ft. New Zealand Flax; Harakeke ; Korari (the scape): Muka 
(the fibre). Novem ber—January. 
A familiar plant to all residents in New Zealand, and, with the exception of certain 
well-known timber-trees, probably of more economic importance than any other 
indigenous species, For information as to its value as a. fibre-plant, and for full ~~ 
particulars as to the mode of preparing the fibre, its microscopical and chemical pro- ts 
perties, &c., reference should be made to “ Phormiuwm tenax as a Fibrous Plant,” edited 
by Sir James Hector, and issued by the Geological Survey Department. (second edition, 
Wellington, 1889). This publication also contains a bibliography of the numerous 
official reports, memoirs, and short papers which have been published from time to 
time in reference to Phormium, several of them containing much valuable information. 
P, tenax varies much in size, the colour of the leaf and the extent to which it is 
recurved and split at the tip, the tint of the coloured line bordering the margins and 
midrib, the colour of the flowers, and the size of the capsule. Some of the varieties 
also differ considerably in the strength of the fibre. Considering the economic import- 
ance of the plant, it is singular that few systematic attempts have been made to collect 
the whole of the varieties and cultivate them side by side in one at least of the public 
gardens of the Dominion. Until this is done it is practically impossible to describe them 
in a scientific manner. Isolated descriptions of a few, without comparison with the rest, 
would be of little use. Some varieties with the leaves variegated in a riband-like manner 
with white or creamy-yellow, and others with bronzy or purplish foliage, are largely 
cultivated for ornamental purposes, but are not usually capable of being reproduced 
by seed. 
CP. ceo. 2, 
2. P. Colensoi Hook. f. in Raoul Choivx (1846) 41.—Much smaller 
and less rigid than P. tenax. Leaves 2-5 ft. long, rarely more, 1-22 in. 
broad, acuminate, apex sometimes conspicuously split, but usually much 
less so than in P. tenax, pale-green, seldom glaucous, margins and 
midrib not usually bordered with a coloured line. Scape 2-7 ft. high, 
much more slender and with a smaller panicle, green. Flowers 1-1} in. 
long; the outer segments yellow or yellowish-red, the inner green or 
-greenish-yellow, with evidently recurved tips. Capsule long, pendulous, 
cylindrical, terete, twisted, 4-7 in. long—Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 
286. P. Cookianum Le Jolis in Bull. Soc. Hort. Cherb. (1848) 71, and in 
Lond. Journ. Bot. vii (1848) 536; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 716. 
P. Hookeri Gunn. in Bot. Mag. (1888) t. 6973. “% Beto, er en 
NortH AND SoutH Istanps, Stewart Isutanp: Not uncommon from the North “4 > v- 
Cape southwards. Sea-level to 4500 ft. Mountain-flax ; Wharariki. November-tag* » 
January. S- (eei-, 
_ The small size, pale colour, yellowish flowers, and long twisted capsules distinguish ng Th 
this from P. tenax ; but it is in some respects an ill-defined species, including severat of 
forms respecting which additional information is required. One of these, figured in 
the “ Botanical Magazine ”’ under the name of P. Hookeri, is remarkable for its flaccid 
much-recurved leaves with long fissured tips. Sir J. D. Hooker considers that it is more 
different from P. tenaw and P. Colensot than they are from one another; but his plate 
11—F'l. 
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