Phormium tenax
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. · speciesAt a glance
Sources15 archives
Databases and archives Phormium tenax's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation11 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility9 848 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI76 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics13 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
giftgenome & karyotype
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Tui on New Zealand flax Phormium tenax (called flax in New Zealand English; in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant.Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim. 2005. California Home Landscaping, Creative Homeowner Press The plant grows as a clump of long, straplike leaves, up to two metres long, from which arises a much taller flowering shoot, with dramatic yellow or red flowers. The fibre has been widely used since the arrival of Māori to New Zealand, originally in Māori traditional textiles and also in rope and sail making after the arrival of Europeans until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific Islands and in Australia. The blades of the plant contain cucurbitacins, which are poisonous to some animals, and some of them are among the bitterest tastes to humans.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology22
Life cycle & reproduction15
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment12
Physiology & chemistry1
Other traits2
Compounds documented for Phormium tenax across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds12 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (3R,8S,9R,10R,13R,14S,16R,17R)-17-[(E,2R)-2,6-dihydroxy-6-methyl-3-oxohept-4-en-2-yl]-3,16-dihydroxy-4,4,9,13,14-pentamethyl-3,7,8,10,12,15,16,17-octahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthrene-2,11-dione | present | LOTUS | |
| 1,4-Naphthalenedione, 6-acetyl-5-hydroxy-7-methyl- | present | LOTUS | |
| ALPSEMFPAVSKJO-LFFXLFLLSA-N | present | NPASS | |
| beta-Sitosterol | present | LOTUS | |
| Chrysophanol | present | LOTUS | |
| cis-(1S,3S)-2,2,3-trimethyl-3-(4-methylphenyl)cyclopentan-1-ol | present | NPASS | |
| Fastigilin B | present | NPASS | |
| Hexacosan-1-ol | present | LOTUS | |
| Isocucurbitacin D | present | LOTUS | |
| KABGCWRGCBCLOH-YFVJAWDISA-N | present | NPASS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Phormium tenax has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Phormium tenax carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 3213×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database · CCDB · new-zealand · CCDB · nw-europe-fl +7
diploid1×GoaT · Kew Plant DNA C-values Database
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · family-scale
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type9 848 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions35 of 52 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Christchurch, NZ | 345 |
| Auckland, NZ | 99 |
| Wellington, NZ | 20 |
| Canberra, AU | 17 |
| Hobart, AU | 14 |
| Rotorua, NZ | 10 |
| Chicago, US | 6 |
| MAlocation not on record | 6 |
| Corvallis, US | 5 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 4 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 4 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 4 |
| Adelaide, AU | 3 |
| San Isidro, AR | 3 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 3 |
| Bronx, US | 3 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 3 |
| Chapingo, MX | 2 |
| Durban, ZA | 2 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 2 |
| Barcelona, ES | 2 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 2 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 2 |
| Kew, GB | 2 |
| Vitoria, ES | 2 |
| Durango, MX | 2 |
| Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record | 2 |
| Pullman, US | 2 |
| Armidale, AU | 2 |
| Ivano-Frankivsk, UA | 2 |
| Honolulu, US | 1 |
| Wlocation not on record | 1 |
| Museo naturalistico del Frignano Ferruccio Minghellilocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 1 |
| Córdoba, AR | 1 |
| Fullerton, US | 1 |
| Saint Louis, US | 1 |
| Long Beach, US | 1 |
| Henry Brockhouse Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Brookings, US | 1 |
| Palmerston North, NZ | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 1 |
| New Zealand Arthropod Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Badajoz, ES | 1 |
| Olocation not on record | 1 |
| Brisbane, AU | 1 |
| Odawara, JP | 1 |
| CASlocation not on record | 1 |
| San Sebastián, ES | 1 |
| Montecillo, Texcoco, MX | 1 |
| University of Johannesburglocation not on record | 1 |
| Provo, US | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Phormium tenax was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Measured at samplingin-field
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.