新西兰麻

Flax-plant \Flax"-plant`\, n. (Bot.)
A plant in new Zealand ({Phormium tenax}), allied to the
lilies and aloes. The leaves are two inches wide and several
feet long, and furnish a fiber which is used for making
ropes, mats, and coarse cloth.


Phormium \Phor"mi*um\, n. [NL. fr. Gr. ? a plaited mat, a kind
of plant.] (Bot.)
A genus of liliaceous plants, consisting of one species
({Phormium tenax}). See {Flax-plant}.


New Zealand \New` Zea"land\
A group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

{New Zealand flax}.
(a) (Bot.) A tall, liliaceous herb ({Phormium tenax}), having
very long, sword-shaped, distichous leaves which furnish
a fine, strong fiber very valuable for cordage and the
like.
(b) The fiber itself.

{New Zealand tea} (Bot.), a myrtaceous shrub ({Leptospermum
scoparium}) of New Zealand and Australia, the leaves of
which are used as a substitute for tea.