Cordyline australis

Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree, cabbage-palm is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 20 metres (66 feet) tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of the branches and can be up to 1 metre (3.3 feet) long. With its tall, straight trunk and dense, rounded heads, it is a characteristic feature of the New Zealand landscape. Its fruit is a favourite food source for the New Zealand pigeon and other native birds. It is common over a wide latitudinal range from the far north of the North Island at 34° 25′S to the south of the South Island at 46° 30′S. Absent from much of Fiordland, it was probably introduced by Māori to the Chatham Islands at 44° 00′S and to Stewart Island at 46° 50′S. It grows in a broad range of habitats, including forest margins, river banks and open places, and is abundant near swamps. The largest known tree with a single trunk is growing at Pakawau, Golden Bay. It is estimated to be 400 or 500 years old, and stands 17 metres (56 feet) tall with a circumference of 9 metres (30 feet) at the base. Known to Māori as tī kōuka, 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, anchor ropes, fishing lines, baskets, waterproof rain capes and cloaks, and sandals. 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, where it was among the first seedling trees to be planted. It is also grown as an ornamental tree in higher latitude Northern Hemisphere countries with maritime climates, including parts of the upper West Coast of the United States and the British Isles, where its common names include Torbay palm and Torquay palm. It does not do well in hot tropical climates like the Caribbean, Queensland, Southeast Asia or Florida. Cordyline australis grows up to 20 metres (66 feet) tall with a stout trunk 1.5 to 2 metres (4.9 to 6.6 ft) in diameter. Before it flowers, it has a slender unbranched stem. The first flowers typically appear at 6 to 10 years old, in spring. 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. The long narrow leaves are sword-shaped, erect, dark to light green, 40 to 100 cm (16 to 39 in) long and 3 to 7 cm (1.2 to 2.8 in) wide at the base, with numerous parallel veins. The leaves grow in crowded clusters at the ends of the branches, and may droop slightly at the tips and bend down from the bases when old. They are thick and have an indistinct midrib. The fine nerves are more or less equal and parallel. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are similar. In spring and early summer, sweetly perfumed flowers are produced in large, dense panicles (flower spikes) 60 to 100 cm (2.0 to 3.3 ft) long, bearing well-spaced to somewhat crowded, almost sessile to sessile flowers and axes. The flowers are crowded along the ultimate branches of the panicles. The bracts which protect the developing flowers often have a distinct pink tinge before the flowers open. In south Canterbury and North Otago the bracts are green. The individual flowers are 5 to 6 mm (about 0.2 in) in diameter, the tepals are free almost to the base, and reflexed. The stamens are about the same length as the tepals. The stigmas are short and trifid. The fruit is a white berry 5 to 7 mm (0.20 to 0.28 in) in diameter which is greedily eaten by birds. The nectar attracts great numbers of insects to the flowers.