Re: Phormia? Phormiae? - Maybe just Phormiums?

"William A. Grant" wrote:
> 
> Where there is summer fog, as there is here on the central coast of
> California, the dew that sits on the phormium when the sun hits it - browns
> terribly. Some of mine are huge and the visitor cannot see the burns at the
> top. But they do look unsightly. The newer ones in half day shade in
> Aug/Sept. get through the hot times well. We have no humidity here - wonder
> if that plays a role where they have a tough time?
> Oh, the new hybrids I saw in NZ two years ago...why aren't they here yet?
> Bill Grant, California

Well Bill 
Perhaps you'd better start nagging the appropriate nurseryman!!

While I am on the subject. There are actually two species of Phormium in
NZ, 
P tenax and P.cookianum. The former is essentially a lowland plant and
though it may grow successfully in very dry conditions, in nature it
particularly likes swamps or seasonally damp areas. Cookianum is in
nature a cliff dweller, either on sea cliffs (as around Wellington) or
inland in the South Island high country and so presumably can tolerate
dryer conditions.. 

P tenax is the fibre used in making Maori textiles and there are ancient
strains of the natural green form still around which have been
specifically selected for various different types of weaving. Some of
the most important of these varieties have been preserved in a special
planting at the Wellington Botanic Gardens and with the revival of Maori
arts and crafts in recent years these plants have provided useful
sources of authentic materials.

By now the two species have been so frequently crossed (and also may
sometimes cross naturally when grown in gardens) that the majority of
cultivars, (especially those with purple or pink tonings or stripes) are
now hybrids whose parentage may be impossible to disentangle.

As to the heat tolerance of NZ flax, though  a very few places here may
(very rarely) attain 40C for the odd day, sustained temperatures much
above 30-35C are simply unknown, so for an answer to this one we would
have to depend on informstion from hotter climes than ours.

Moira

-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
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