phormium

/ (ˈfɔːmɪəm) /

any plant of the New Zealand bulbous genus Phormium, with leathery evergreen leaves and red or yellow flowers in panicles

Word Origin for phormium

New Latin, from Greek phormos a basket (from a use for the fibres)

The robes of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax), and especially the feather robes, evince their aptitude and taste.

Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. |Various
It contains a Phormium tenax that I wouldn't lose on any account.

Major Vigoureux |A. T. Quiller-Couch
The slave girls stick unthreshed slips of the Phormium tenax in their skirts, thus giving immoderate fulness to their bodies.

The Human Race |Louis Figuier
New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax), a kind of marsh hemp, yields a fibre used in making cordage.

Commercial Geography |Jacques W. Redway

The more important fibres of this class are manila, sisal, phormium.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3 |Various