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Phormium
Also called New Zealand Flax
Phormium is a genus of two species, New Zealand flax (P. tenax and P. colensoi), grown for its tough, sword-shaped leaves and tall flower stalks. Commonly grown members are the many variegated and coloured cultivars, which need full sun to light shade and moist, well-drained soil.
Phormium is a genus of two plant species in the family Asphodelaceae. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as flax or their Māori names wharariki and harakeke respectively, and elsewhere as New Zealand flax or flax lily, but they are not closely related to the Northern Hemisphere's flax (Linum usitatissimum), which is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and has been used by humans since 30,000 B.C.
The two species readily interbreed and there is part considerable regional variation in Phormium colensoi. Where the two species co-occur, there is local introgression.
In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Phormium cultivars commercially available. The 2005–2006 edition of the Royal Horticultural Society Plant Finder listed 75 cultivars. As early as the 1920s it was recognised that ploidy plays a role in some cultivars due to the work of John Stuart Yeates. The highly regarded sport Ngaro was isolated from the Moutoa swamp, Foxton.
Phormium tenax occurs naturally in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, while P. colensoi is endemic to New Zealand. Both species have been widely distributed to temperate regions of the world as economic fibre and ornamental plants.
Phormium produces long leaf fibres that have played an important role in the culture, history and economy of New Zealand. Both species have been widely distributed to temperate regions of the world as economic fibre and ornamental plants.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phormium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
