Flax have been domesticated just once from the wild species "Linum bienne", called pale flax. Several other species in the genus "Linum" are similar in appearance to "L. usitatissimum", cultivated flax, including some that have similar blue flowers, and others with white, yellow, or red flowers. Some of these are perennial plants, unlike "L. usitatissimum", which is an annual plant. Cultivated flax plants grow to tall, with slender stems. The leaves are glaucous green, slender lanceolate, 20–40 mm long, and 3 mm broad. The flowers are pure pale blue, 15–25 mm in diameter, with five petals. The fruit is a round,
Flax in New Zealand Mr Rutherford's Te Aoterei mill has been 11s 3d for a ten-hour day."" Flax in New Zealand New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants "Phormium tenax" and "Phormium colensoi", known by the Māori names "harakeke" and "wharariki" respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite distinct from the Northern Hemisphere plant known as flax ("Linum usitatissimum") "P. tenax" occurs naturally in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, while "P. colensoi" is endemic to New Zealand. They have played an important part in the cultural and economic history of New Zealand for both the Māori people and