Scientific name: Phormium tenax J.R. & G. Forst.
Common name: New Zealand Flax
Description
Habit: Perennial, rhizome stout, short.
Leaves: Entire, stiff, more or less sword-like leaves over 1m long, which arise at ground level from a large rosette 1-2m across, with extremely tough, fibrous leaves up to 300cm x 12cm; margins and base sometimes reddish.
Flowers: Flowering stem up to 4m high with a panicle of tubular, dark red-orange flowers, each 3-5cm long; perianth free, almost to base, slightly zygomorphic; segments with their tips bent back and inner surface greenish-red; ovary superior, acuminate; stamens 6, exceeding perianth, anthers orange, filaments red.
Fruits: Dehiscent capsule, 7-9 x 2cm, three-angled, dark brown; seeds 9 x 4mm, elliptical, black.
Habitat: Planted and persistent by the sea in the South-west.
Native status: Not native
Of conservation interest: No