Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree, or by its Māori name of tī or tī kōuka, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand.

It grows up to tall the tree was used as a source of food, particularly in the South Island, where it was cultivated in areas where other crops would not grow. It provided durable fibre for textiles. Hardy and fast growing, it is widely planted in New Zealand gardens, parks and streets, and numerous cultivars are available. The tree can also be found in large numbers in island restoration projects, such as Tiritiri Matangi Island, cabbage palm, Torbay palm and Torquay palm. The right conditions can reduce the first flowering age to 3 years (Havelock North, 2015 mast year). After the first flowering, it divides to form a much-branched crown with tufts of leaves at the tips of the branches. Each branch may fork after producing a flowering stem. The pale to dark grey bark is corky, persistent and fissured, and feels spongy to the touch. Names recorded as specific to C. australis include tī kōuka, tī kāuka, tī rākau, tī awe, tī pua, and tī whanake.

Animals and birds associated with C. australis include lizards which forage among the flowers, including the gold-striped gecko which is well camouflaged for life among the leaves of the tree. The leaves are suitable for weaving in its raw state, without any need to further process the fibres. Other early uses included woven hats worn by early settlers, and toboggans made for children. It is easily grown from fresh seed — seedlings often spontaneously appear in gardens from bird-dispersed seed. It can also be propagated easily from shoot, stem and even trunk cuttings. It does well in pots and tubs. To add to the confusion, these may be misidentified as Cordyline indivisa (syn. Dracaena indivisa).

C. australis is hardy to USDA zones 8–11.

AGM cultivars

In cultivation in the United Kingdom, the following have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

  • C. australis
  • 'Albertii'
  • 'Sundance'
  • 'Torbay Dazzler',
  • 'Torbay Red' (confirmed 2017)

See also

  • Barry L. Frankhauser, an archaeologist and anthropologist, whose Ph.D. thesis (published 1986) was a study of historical uses of the cabbage tree

Notes

Bibliography

  • Scheele, S. (2007). The 2006 Banks Memorial Lecture: Cultural uses of New Zealand native plants. New Zealand Garden Journal 1:10–16. Retrieved 2010-04-04.

Further reading

  • Arkins, A. (2003). The Cabbage Tree. Auckland. Reed Publishing.
  • Harris, W. (2001). Horticultural and conservation significance of the genetic variation of cabbage trees (Cordyline spp.). In: Oates, M. R. ed. New Zealand plants and their story: proceedings of a conference held in Wellington 1–3 October 1999. Lincoln, Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. pp. 87–91.
  • Harris, W. (2002). The cabbage tree. Journal of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, 5, 3–9.
  • Harris, W. (2003). Genotypic variation of height growth and trunk diameter of Cordyline australis (Lomandraceae) grown at three locations in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 41, 637–652.
  • Harris, W. (2004). Genotypic variation of dead leaf retention by Cordyline australis (Lomandraceae) populations and influence on trunk surface. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 42, 833–844.