Phormium tenax 'Paretaniwha'. Harakeke cultivar.
Māori names
Māori names
paretaniwha; paritaniwha (Best); paretaniwha, paretanewha, paritanewha (Taylor).
Description
Harakeke cultivar.
1) Following notes from Flax Commissioners Report 1870, 1871:
Whakatane Native, 1871; strong fibre for fishing lines, nets etc. Breaking strain = 95.
Opunake Native; breaking strain = 83
Mantell, Maungatautiri; a fine kind
Hutton, Waikato, 1871; from lecture delivered to Auckland Institute 12 July 1870. Yellow Hill flax. Leaves erect, slightly drooping at the tip, yellowish green, generally with red or orange margins, slightly glaucous below, point acute. Flower stalk small, 4-8 ft. high, 1/2 - 1 inch in diameter. Pod short, erect. Fibre very good, soft and glossy. Plant seldom more than 5-6 ft. in height; grows generally on clay hills. Passes into common swamp flax, but best distinguished by its nearly erect acute-pointed leaves. Probably often mistaken for Tīhore. (Tīhore name used in Waikato; Hutton thinks probably the same plant as Oue and Tāpoto elsewhere.) Average breaking strain of leaves is 42 lbs. (cf. Tīhore = 48lbs).
2) Selwyn 1847: found chiefly at Maungatautari ( north west Lake Taupo), one of Tīhore class of flaxes i.e. can be scraped with fingernail only. Planted in rows 6" apart, 6" between plants.
3) Taylor 1870: Paritanewha, flax, fine kind
4) Best 1898, 1908: brought to Urewera from Waikato. Good fibre. Steeped in water when scutched, otherwise assumes reddish colour.
5) New Zealand Department Agriculture 1908: tall erect variety, 10 feet high. Thick butt. Good proportion of good, strong, coarse, free fibre.
6) Best 1942: a superior variety
7) Williams 1971: a superior variety of Tīhore
8) Gregory Collection, Kaitaia. Recorded as muka flax. Top quality hill muka. Long and dark green, plenty of muka. Is easy to strip. Has kōrari. Fibre of good length and quality. Dark edges. Can be used for piupiu.
