Varietal and environmental influences on the properties of strands prepared fromPhormiumleaves to make the Maori garment piupiu

Abstract

Strands that are elements of the traditional Maori piupiu skirt were prepared from leaf blades of 12 varieties of Phormium grown at nine New Zealand sites to determine characteristics of leaves from which good quality piupiu can be made. The experimental design allowed separation of varietal and environmental effects on these characteristics. Qualitative assessments were made of the ease of marking of patterns on strands and separation of fibre (muka) to show patterns and to join strands together, and the suitability of strands to make piupiu of various sizes. Prepared pairs of strands were joined by rolling together muka separated from the strand tips (miro), before boiling and drying ready for plaiting into piupiu waistbands. lengths of the miro and patterned sections, dry weights, diameters, and the extent of rolling of strands were recorded. The varieties Paoa and Paretaniwha were unsuitable for piupiu. The others had various faults or characteristics suitable for different types of piupiu. kohunga, Ngaro, Parekoretawa, and Tapamangu had the best combinations of characters. Growing conditions at the 11 sites had a small effect on the qualitative characteristics of the leaves but an important impact on leaf size of the different varieties.