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Phormium Tenax
''Phormium tenax'' (called flax in New Zealand English; in Māori language, 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 fiber, 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. Despite being commonly known as 'flax', harakeke is of the genus ''Phormium'', a monocot, and is a leaf fibre, whereas flax (linen) is of the genus ''Linum'', a rosid, and is a bast fibre (which comes from the stem of the plant). The two plants have an evolutionary extremely distant relationship with each other. The fibre has been widely used since the arrival of Māori people, Māori to New Zealand, origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piha
Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially in summer. Piha is 39 kilometres west of Auckland city centre, on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of the Manukau Harbour, on the western edge of the Waitākere Ranges. Immediately to the north of Piha is Whites Beach, and immediately to the south is Te Unuhanga-a-Rangitoto / Mercer Bay; land access to both is only by foot. The nearest beaches accessible by road are Karekare to the south, and Anawhata to the north. History The area is traditionally a part of rohe of the Tāmaki Māori tribe Te Kawerau ā Maki. The area is named for Te Piha, the traditional name of Lion Rock which was later applied to the wider area, and refers to the pattern made when waves hit against the rock. The area was the location of many pā and villages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pandanus
''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae, and is the largest in the family. Description The species vary in size from small shrubs less than tall, to medium-sized trees tall, typically with a broad canopy, heavy fruit, and moderate growth rate. The trunk is stout, wide-branching, and ringed with many leaf scars. Mature plants can have branches. Depending on the species, the trunk can be smooth, rough, or warty. The roots form a pyramidal tract to hold the trunk. They commonly have many thick stilt roots near the base, which provide support as the tree grows top-heavy with leaves, fruit, and branches. These roots are adventitious and often branched. The top of the plant has one or more crowns of strap-shaped leaves that may be s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tukutuku
Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui; the posts are usually carved and represent ancestors. The patterns of tukutuku have symbolic meanings. Tukutuku are made with various materials. One description is vertical rods of toetoe stalks, with wooden slats across. These slats are held in place with knotting or weaving that forms a decorative pattern. The materials for this weaving are narrow strips of kiekie or harakeke, some died black and the coastal plant pingao as yellow colour. The traditional skills of tukutuku are held mostly within the Māori women weaving community alongside other Māori traditional weaving techniques as the skills of whakaīro (carving) are mostly held within the Māori men carving community. Tukutuku for a wharenui are designed alongside the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tāniko
Tāniko (or taaniko) is a traditional weaving technique of the Māori of New Zealand related to "twining". It may also refer to the resulting bands of weaving, or to the traditional designs. The tāniko technique does not require a loom, although one can be used. Traditionally free hanging warps were suspended between two weaving pegs and the process involved twining downward. The traditional weaving material is muka, fibre prepared from the New Zealand flax (''Phormium tenax'') by scraping, pounding and washing. The muka fibre was dyed using natural dyes. There has been a resurgence of tāniko and other Māori cultural practices starting in the 1950s and as part of the broader Māori Renaissance. This has led to tāniko practitioners Diggeress Te Kanawa and her mother Dame Rangimārie Hetet receiving honorary doctorates from the University of Waikato. The award-winning designer, Adrienne Whitewood ( Rongowhaakata), demonstrates a new wave of Māori designers connecting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in common, including Polynesian languages, linguistic relations, Polynesian culture, cultural practices, and Tradition, traditional beliefs. In centuries past, they had a strong shared tradition of sailing and Polynesian navigation, using stars to navigate at night. The term was first used in 1756 by the French writer Charles de Brosses, who originally applied it to all the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, islands of the Pacific. In 1831, Jules Dumont d'Urville proposed a narrower definition during a lecture at the Société de Géographie of Paris. By tradition, the islands located in the South Seas, southern Pacific have also often been called the South Sea Islands, and their inhabitants have been called South Sea Islanders. The Hawai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paper Mulberry
The paper mulberry (''Broussonetia papyrifera'', syn. ''Morus papyrifera'' L.) is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia,''Broussonetia papyrifera''. Flora of North America. where its range includes mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, , and India. It is widely cultivated elsewhere and it grows as an in New Zealand, parts of Europe, the United States, and Africa. Other common names include tapa cloth tree.
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Kete (basket)
Kete are traditional baskets made and used by New Zealand's Māori people. They are traditionally woven from the leaves of New Zealand flax called Phormium tenax, harakeke and have two handles at the top. Other materials are sometimes used, including Carex, sedge grass or the leaves of the nikau palm and Cabbage tree (New Zealand), cabbage tree. Modern designs may also use dyed materials. Some kete, known as ''kete whakairo'', or "patterned bag", feature intricate geometric patterns, while more everyday baskets are known as ''kete mahi'' or simply ''kete.'' Uses Kete may be of many sizes but are most often found in sizes similar to large handbags. They can be used to carry a variety of things, including food. Specialized kete were woven for each item that needed storage, resulting in dozens of specialized styles. Very small kete also exist, and can be used as gift containers. Traditionally, kete were given away following their completion. Kete have also been used to bury plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muka
Muka is prepared fibre of New Zealand flax (). Prepared primarily by scraping, pounding and washing, it is a key material in Māori traditional textiles where it is usually used in tāniko or twined weaving. Some varieties produce different grades or quality of muka that result in characteristics such as strength, whiteness or shine. In pre-European times, muka was widely used by the Māori and was the primary fibre used for weaving clothing. ''Patu muka'' or pounding stones were a distinct tool type. In the early colonial period, muka was a trade staple, often being traded for muskets with devastating effects. Well into the European era it was used for paper, clothing and sacking, with large commercial workings in Foxton and elsewhere. Since the Māori renaissance Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epidermis (botany)
The epidermis (from the Greek language, Greek ''ἐπιδερμίς'', meaning "over-skin") is a single layer of cells that covers the leaf, leaves, flowers, roots and Plant stem, stems of plants. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external environment. The epidermis serves several functions: it protects against water loss, regulates gas exchange, secretes metabolic compounds, and (especially in roots) absorbs water and mineral nutrients. The epidermis of most leaves shows Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, dorsoventral anatomy: the upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) surfaces have somewhat different construction and may serve different functions. Woody stems and some other stem structures such as potato tubers produce a secondary covering called the periderm that replaces the epidermis as the protective covering. Description The epidermis is the outermost cell layer of the primary plant body. In some older works the cells of the leaf epidermis have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow-eyed Penguin
The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. It is the sole extant species in the genus ''Megadyptes''. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus ''Eudyptes''. Like most penguins, it is mainly piscivorous. The species breeds along the eastern and south-eastern coastlines of the South Island of New Zealand, as well as Stewart Island, Auckland Islands, and Campbell Islands. Colonies on the Otago Peninsula are a popular tourist venue, where visitors may closely observe penguins from hides, trenches, or tunnels. On the New Zealand mainland, the species has experienced a significant decline over the past 20 years. On the Otago Peninsula, numbers have dropped by 75% since the mid-1990s and population trends indicate the possibility of local extinction in the next 20 to 40 years. While the eff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasive species, and climate change. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List lists the global conservation status of many species, and various other agencies assess the status of species within particular areas. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species which, for example, forbid hunting, restrict land development, or create protected areas. Some endangered species are the target of extensive conservation efforts such as captive breeding and habitat restoration. Human activity is a significant cause in causing some species to become endangered. Conservation status The conservation status of a species indicates the likelihood that it will become extinct. Multiple factors are c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trite Planiceps
''Trite planiceps'', commonly known as the black-headed jumping spider, is a common jumping spider (Salticidae) endemic to New Zealand and one of about 150 species of jumping spiders in New Zealand. Taxonomy ''Trite planiceps'' was first described in 1873 as ''Salticus minax'' from specimens collected from Riccarton Bush, Governor Bay and the North Island. ''Trite planiceps'' was later described again in 1899 as its current name by Eugene Simon. In 2011, ''T. planiceps'' was redescribed after DNA sequences were used to provide molecular evidence for the taxonomy of this species. The holotypes were stored at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle but are thought to have been lost. Description Males and females range in body length from 6 to 13.5 mm. (2011)The black headed jumping spider, ''Trite planiceps'' Simon, 1899 (Araneae: Salticidae): redescription including cytochrome ''c'' oxidase subunit 1 and paralogous 28S sequences ''New Zealand Journal of Zoology'' 38: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
