Easily stripped into long strands of strong, silky white fibre using haro method. Fibre used for aho in high quality cloaks. For kete, leaves dry to a pale fawn when boiled and a deeper colour when unboiled. Fibre in muka kete dries to a soft cream colour. Strips prepared for kete and whāriki will not shrink after being woven, if boiled or dragged through boiling water before weaving.
The stalks and seed pods have provided Rene with a fine range of apricot toned dyes for her handspun wool.
The stalks and seed pods have provided Rene with a fine range of apricot toned dyes for her handspun wool.
| Source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Cultivar No |  |
15 |
| Source | |
Oparure, Maniapoto. |
| Description | |
A fine variety. Tall, bendy, pale blue-green leaves, powdery blue on reverse. Similar to Kōhunga but finer and slightly more droopy. Black margins and keel. Plenty of very tall, light-weight flower heads. |
| Uses | |
Easily stripped into long strands of strong, silky white fibre using haro method. Fibre used for aho in high quality cloaks. For kete, leaves dry to a pale fawn when boiled and a deeper colour when unboiled. Fibre in muka kete dries to a soft cream colour. Strips prepared for kete and whāriki will not shrink after being woven, if boiled or dragged through boiling water before weaving. The stalks and seed pods have provided Rene with a fine range of apricot toned dyes for her handspun wool. |
| Muka extraction |  |
Muka extracts fairly easily but not cleanly. Leaf matter sticks to fibre especially around incision. Para removes easily. Rene Orchiston regards this flax as a muka cultivar. It could be because of the time of year or location (South Island) that our flax performs differently. |
| Raranga - unboiled | |
Beautiful, soft, leathery. Great for raranga. When softening, tip of whenu sometimes splits. |
