Phormium tenax

Phormium tenax
New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), its crown dusted by pollen, sitting on a flowering stalk of P. tenax.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Monocots Order: Asparagales Family: Hemerocallidaceae Genus: Phormium Species: P. tenax
Binomial name
Phormium tenax J.R.Forst.. & G.Forst.

Phormium tenax (harakeke in Māori, New Zealand flax) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant.^[1] The plant grows as a clump of long, straplike leaves, up to two meters long, from which arises a much taller flowering shoot, with dramatic yellow or red flowers.^[1]

Ecology

The jumping spider Trite planiceps lives predominantly in the rolled-up leaves of this species. Phormium tenax is a coastal cover plant associated with significant habitat such as the breeding habitat for the endangered Yellow-eyed Penguin.^[2]

Cultivars

Several forms of this species have been selected for cultivation including:

• 'Bronze Baby' - arching bronze leaves, 2 to 3 foot plant.
• 'Dazzler' - arching leaves that are bronze-maroon with red and pink stripes, plant reaches 3 feet in height.
• 'Sundrowner' - 6 foot tall plant, leaves are striped with bronze, green and rose-pink.

^[3]

References

• Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim. 2005. California Home Landscaping, Creative Homeowner Press ISBN 9781580112543
• James Hector. 1889. Phormium tenax as a fibrous plant, second edition, New Zealand. Geological Survey Dept, New Zealand, published by G. Didsbury, Government Printer, 95 pages
• C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Yellow-eyed Penguin: Megadypes antipodes, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
• Frances Tenenbaum. 2003. "Taylor's Encyclopedia of Garden Plants", Houghton Mifflin Company ISBN 0618226443

Line notes

This Asparagales article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This New Zealand-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.