New Zealand flax

American  

noun

1. a large New Zealand plant, Phormium tenax, of the agave family, having showy, red-margined, leathery leaves and dull-red flowers, grown as an ornamental and for the fiber-yielding leaves.

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Etymology

Origin of New Zealand flax

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

New Zealand flax

On the crumbling, rotten earth the New Zealand flax, the Phormium tenax, loves to grow, and to its long, ribbon-like leaves the eel-fishers fastened their lines securely, baiting each alternate hook with mutton and worms.

From Station Amusements in New Zealand by Barker, Lady (Mary Anne)

The New Zealand flax gives the most perfectly soluble nitrates of any of the flaxes.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by Sanford, P. Gerald (Percy Gerald)

But the discovery which constitutes its value is the New Zealand flax, plants of which are found growing in every part of the island in the utmost luxuriancy and abundance.

From A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany-Bay by Tench, Watkin

Strips of the New Zealand flax plant, Phormium tenax, are made into baskets in New Zealand.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3 "Banks" to "Bassoon" by Various

They had also rough cords of palm-fibre, and they seem to have preferred plaiting to weaving; yet New Zealand flax and aloes grow abundantly.

From To the Gold Coast for Gold A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes.—Volume I by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir