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Types of harakeke, or flax (V0144)

There are two main types of harakeke.

In this video conference, scientist Stephen Tauwhare identifies the different types of harakeke.


Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tamaki Nui a Rua: Ē hia ngā momo harakeke?

Wiremu: How many types of harakeke are there?

Stephen Tauwhare (Industrial Research Limited): There are two specific species of harakeke with the genus. That is how harakeke is known in the Western scientific world. People traditionally within each local region around the country have their own names for various different kinds of harakeke which fit between those two scientific species. I’ve heard that there are various estimates of how many varieties of harakeke there are. I've worked with fifty during the project I worked on but I suspect there are well over a hundred at least.


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