'Phormium tenax' definitions:

Definition of 'Phormium tenax'

From: GCIDE
  • New Zealand \New` Zea"land\ A group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Phormium tenax'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Phormium tenax'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]