Cunninghamia: a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia © 2009 Botanic Gardens Trust www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science/Scientific_publications/cunninghamia SHORT COMMUNICATION Was Phormium tenax introduced to Norfolk Island by the Polynesians?

• Main Authors: Kevin Mills, J. R. Forst
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Campbell Island; New Zealand; Pacific; Auckland Islands
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.595.8159; http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/103117/Cun112171Mil.pdf

Abstract: Phormium tenax (New Zealand Flax) is a large rhizomatous perennial herb with a natural distribution restricted to the southwest Pacific, primarily on the New Zealand islands. The species ’ extra-New Zealand distribution is confined to smaller islands to the north and east, namely the Chatham Islands, Raoul Island in the Kermadecs, Campbell Island, the Auckland Islands and Norfolk Island. The species may have been introduced to some of these islands. The species has always been treated as indigenous to Norfolk Island (lat 29 ° 02’S; long 167 ° 57’E, 780 km north of New Zealand). Recently, it has been suggested the Polynesians may have introduced Phormium tenax to that island in the distant past. A review of the evidence for its indigenous and introduced status on Norfolk Island is presented, concluding that the evidence either way is inconclusive, but that the indigenous status of the species is completely feasible. Taxonomic and/or genetic studies, with comparisons to the taxa in New Zealand and elsewhere, would provide useful information on the status of the plants on Norfolk Island.