Linum monogynum
Yes, it is a flax. Evidently New Zealand is the only place where our Phormium species, wharariki and harakeke, are referred to as flaxes. Linum monogynum is closely related to the northern hemisphere linen flax, whose spun fibres are used to make linen and whose derived oil is linseed oil.
Linum is a subshrub of open spaces and can colonise the rank pasture a bit too. It can cope with the frequent salty gales.
(Part of an ongoing effort to photograph all the vascular plants on the island. Each species will get a page when I get enough reasonable photos.)
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Fauna Recovery New Zealand 
Nice, I always enjoyed this flower when weeding on Mana Island. It signified the end of winter.
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Mana Island was the first place I saw it flowering… beautiful groves of it waving in the breeze up top. Looking forward to more plant pics 🙂
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A decent number of people commenting on how much they like this little plant! Yeah, more plant articles when I can get a higher proportion of keeper photos than presently…
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