new Zealand Flax

Posted by Bill Richardson Jul 28, 2006

New Zealand Flax is an interesting plant that is widely used as a garden ornamental. They create great colour and can be used as a feature in many designed gardens.

Two varieties such as Phormium tenax, (swamp flax) and Phormium cookianum (mountain flax) are well known in New Zealand and Australia.

Phormium means "basket or wickerwork" -referring to the use made of the leaf;

tenax means "holding fast" referring to the strong fibres ;

cookianum was named after Captain Cook. This species was first called P. colensoi.

The common name used is New Zealand flax or hemp. The Flax leaves are long and sword shaped, dark green often having coloured edges. The leaves can be up to 3 metres long, as per the variety of flax.

Flax has many tube-like flowers, in shades from yellow through to bright red, held on long spears, up to 5 m long, above the foliage. P. tenax flowers are 2.5 to 5 cm long while P. cookianum flowers are smaller (1.5 to 4 cm long). The flowers produce copious quantities of nectar that is much loved by all nectar feeding birds and insects. Flax flowers in November in Auckland.

In future blogs and articles we will discuss more interesting endemic New Zealand species