Phormium is a genus of two plant species in the Asphodelaceae family. One species is endemic to New Zealand and the other is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The two species are widely known in New Zealand as 'flax' and elsewhere as New Zealand flax or flax lily but are not related to flax which is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and which was used by humans in 30,000 B.C.