About harakeke

New Zealand flax (phormium tenax) is unique to New Zealand and is not related to European flax. There are 70 different cultivars of flax, all with their own properties.

There are only two species of New Zealand flax (the other one is mountain flax, phormium colensoi/phormium cookianum), but many dozens of different 'cultivars' with varying use for weavers.

I have planted my own flax pa (collection), but with 40 bushes at hand I'm still running out of flax at times....

Harakeke (or korari in the North) has been used for many generations, for carrying or storing food in kete (bags) and for protection against the elements with pake (rain capes).