Harakeke
“Me Tōngai Harakeke”
A whakatauki (Māori proverb) that my tūpuna Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi used as a calling for our people to come together in unity and to be industrious during the time of the Parihaka resistance. The harakeke stands tall, deeply rooted in the earth, resilient and strong.
Māori Name: Harakeke or Kōrari which is also the Māori word for the flax stalks that grow the flowers and seeds.
Common Name: flax, NZ flax, swamp flax
Scientific Name: Phormium Tenax
Family: Hemerocallidaceae (day-lily)
Description: Harakeke is very distinct and while some may think that it is it’s whanaunga (relation) wharariki (Phormium Cookianum), it generally grows to a bigger size, has larger flowering stalks and the leaves on wharariki are generally a lot softer. Harakeke is herbaceous so it is a soft growing plant, not woody.
It grows in a fan with the rito (baby) in the middle, the two mātua (parents) on either side and the tūpuna (grandparents) on either side of that. The butt of this whānau fan is stiff and it is where the medicinal gel can be found in some plants. When I cut harakeke, I find it very soothing to rub this gel over my hands as I’m cutting. Creatively I’ve used this butt of the harakeke as photographic inspiration. I have thousands of harakeke images in my collection taken over the past 20 years. And more recently I’ve also used the roots of the butt to create a beautiful dye.
The flowers are amazing! My kōrari (flower stalks) start coming through at the end of August. Some plants don’t flower until October but perhaps our warmer temperatures here on the East Coast are the reason why. And the birds and bees love them. The tui, korimako and tauhou all come to eat the nectar. The tui are bullies though and they’ll scare anything out so when there is a tauhou or a korimako in the flax bush, I know the tui are not around.
The cultivar of harakeke that I have growing in my garden was gifted to me by the Wylie whānau in Manutuke. Sue Scheele of Manaaki Whenua took one look and said it looked like Paoa. It has soft droopy leaves and is a beautiful golden green yellow colour which is most evident when it dries. It has flowered every year over the past nine years so I was surprised to hear Sue say that some don’t flower every year!
Snails love harakeke, so it’s a good idea to keep the plant well cut back as they love to hide inside the leaves. Allowing air to blow through the leaves and space at the bottom makes the harakeke happy. And it keeps the scale away. I learnt this through not cutting my plants back enough and not looking after them properly at times! If the rain can get into them, it can give them a good clean out.
Seeds are amazing too! Harakeke is an amazing plant full stop! Recently I used my seeds as a mulch and next minute I have a kōhanga (nursery) harakeke growing haha! They took off so easily. You can get hundreds of seeds in one season. I have a rubbish bag full of seeds and I love to use them creatively too. They are an amazing jet black colour, very light in weight and also edible. They taste kind of nutty.
Uses: So many! Harakeke is one of the most under utilised plants (I believe) and yet it grows easily and abundantly. In my 20 years of growing it first in the West and then in the East, I’ve learnt that it is resilient, adaptable and giving.
These are just a few of it’s uses:
Fibre to make kete (baskets), whāriki (mats), taura (rope) - the list goes on and it is very strong!
Kai for birds, bees, insects and people
All parts of the plant can be used for rongoā (medicine) – root, leaves, gel, seeds, flowers, stalk
Flowers, seed pods, leaves and roots can be made into a dye.
Makes great flax paper! Check out some works here.
Harakeke is a great mulch especially if it is left through winter to break down, then put onto your spring garden. The worms love it and will create a great growing soil for your plants.
Riparian planting along waterways, plantings along banks and hills to hold the earth together. Harakeke love water (they grow freely in swamps) so they’re great for planting in areas where you might want to soak up water, especially when it rains a lot. Before planting harakeke on our section, when it rained it used to get water logged badly and after I planted harakeke, where I planted them there was noticeably less water. They are also a great plant to plant when regenerating whenua (land). And the list goes on!
How do you use harakeke?
Final Words
This is a plant that I have come to love over the past 20 years. I grew it in the West in the rainforest just below Taranaki maunga, where the weather was wet and cold often in winter. But the plants were so resilient. I remember thinning my harakeke and leaving a whānau plant on the ground sideways. I left it there for months and it somehow just started growing where it lay. Here is a link to my house (scroll to page 8) below the maunga and the creative mahi I used to do with harakeke paper making when I lived there. This was 2004 and I still use flax paper in my art today.
Here in the East, I feel spoilt for sunshine. It didn’t take my harakeke long to grow into big, droopy leaved bushes that give me so much delight through all the seasons. They are the highlight of my garden, the centre of the universe in my back yard and every summer when the birds come down to eat, I am grateful.
References:
While a huge part of my learning is through direct experience, growing harakeke over many years and the generosity of others, especially weavers who have shared their knowledge with me, I have drawn on other sources of knowledge now and then and are listing some here for people who may find them useful. Some are also live links in the post.
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
Manaaki Whenua You Tube Channel - some fantastic videos with Landcare Research kaitiaki Katarina Tāwiri.
Fiona Collis Charlene Fraser Shainey Moreli Tina Wirihana Michelle Kerr
Hone Bailey A very SHORT list of some of my favourite artists who work with harakeke!