What did Maoris use harakeke for?

The large grass-like leaves of Harakeke, which grow to more than 3 metres in length, were used extensively by Maori for clothing, thatching and matting. They also used Harakeke as a medicinal plant to treat boils, burns, as an antiseptic for cuts and internally for diarrhoea.

What are harakeke flowers called?

Harakeke was the name given to this plant by Māori. The first European traders called it ‘flax’ because its fibres were similar to that of true flax found in other parts of the world. Although we still call it flax today, harakeke is really a lily.

What is the flower flax?

The flax flower (Linum usitatissimum) is a pretty, fast, and easy-growing annual. Once mature, it produces an abundance of short-lived but attractive and delicate blue flowers that are frequently replaced over the summer.

What is harakeke in Māori?

The harakeke (flax) plant represents the whānau (family) in Māori thought. The rito (shoot) is the child. It is protectively surrounded by the awhi rito (parents). The outside leaves represent the tūpuna (grandparents and ancestors).

Is harakeke native to NZ?

Harakeke is one of New Zealand’s most distinctive native plants. It has long, upright, often stiff leaves which can reach up to 4metres in length.

What is the tikanga of harakeke?

Tikanga (custom) The tikanga around harvesting harakeke is grounded in common sense and protects the welfare of both the harvester and the harakeke plant itself. Māori usually say a karakia (prayer) when harvesting leaves for use.

How do I identify harakeke?

Harakeke has coloured leaf margins and keel, with orange, red, brown and black being the most common. Colours can vary between young and old leaves, even within a bush. Coloured edges are narrow, thick or smudged. Young leaves in particular are sometimes smudged with colour (particularly reddish brown) at the tips.

What does flax symbolize?

Flax can symbolize domesticity, wisdom, righteousness, religious focus, and the afterlife.

What is flax in the Bible?

Flax was the most important plant fiber in Bible times because it was used to make linen. All clothing was made either of linen or wool.

What is special about harakeke?

A unique feature of harakeke and related plants is that the lower third or so of each leaf is folded together along its midrib or keel. This creates a stiff, heavy butt. Fans develop from the stout, fleshy underground rhizome or rootstock.

What is harakeke traditionally used for?

The harakeke fibre was used for ropes, fishing lines and net making. The plant’s nectar was used as a sweetener, the dried flower stalks were lashed together to make mōkihi (rafts), and the pia (gum) and boiled roots were used for medicinal purposes.

How do you care for harakeke?

Maintenance. Keep the area around the base of the plants weeded and trim dead leaves. When the plants are mature they will appreciate an annual pruning. Trim each fan back to the central three leaves — the rito and the awhi rito.

What does harakeke look like?

Harakeke is one of New Zealand’s most distinctive native plants. It has long, upright, often stiff leaves which can reach up to 4metres in length. The black flower stalks can grow up to 5 metres tall and the dull red, nectar-filled flowers attract masses of birds in kōanga/spring, particularly tūī and korimako.

What was harakeke used for?

Woven garments incorporating harakeke were worn by most people. The harakeke fibre was used for ropes, fishing lines and net making. The plant’s nectar was used as a sweetener, the dried flower stalks were lashed together to make mōkihi (rafts), and the pia (gum) and boiled roots were used for medicinal purposes.

How do you grow harakeke?

The traditional way to plant harakeke is to ‘plant the puku to the sun’, so that the bulge on the fan faces halfway between the rising and setting sun. This protects the baby fans, which will emerge at the back of the clump, and gives them shade and moisture.

What does flax mean in the Bible?

Put another way, it represents personal holiness and suggests that the person clothed in linen is in a condition suitable to approach God. In fact, one of the synonyms for a priest is one who “wears the linen ephod.”

What colour are flax flowers?

light blue flowers
Most flax plants bear light blue flowers, but there are yellow, red, and white varieties as well.

What does wool and flax represent in the Bible?

Flax is plant fiber used to make fine linen garments. Wool and flax represent raw materials. Unfinished goods. Like a seed, raw material never starts out looking like what it has the potential of becoming.

What is the spiritual meaning of linen in the Bible?

God tells us it “is the righteousness of saints.” The Bible has a lot to say about linen. Fine linen has been the garb of royalty in many civilizations. The high priest in ancient Israel wore a robe and a miter made of this material. It’s the material King David donned when dancing before the ark.

What is another name for harakeke?

Harakeke

Māori names	harakeke, kōrari (Northland)
Other common names	flax, New Zealand flax, swamp flax
Scientific name	Phormium tenax
Family	Hemerocallidaceae (day-lily family)