Cordyline obtecta
species of plant
Cordyline obtecta (Ti, Norfolk Island cabbage tree, Three Kings cabbage tree) is a widely branching monocot tree native to Norfolk Island (the type locality), and to northern New Zealand. The species name obtecta derives from the Latin obtegere (to conceal, to cover up), alluding to the way the inflorescence barely protruded beyond the leaves in the plant first described.
Distribution
On Norfolk Island, C. obtecta grows in forest on Mt Bates, Mt Pitt, and elsewhere in the National Park. In New Zealand it was first described as C. kaspar and was thought to be restricted to the Three Kings Islands, 55 km north of the North Island. Later it was found on the North Island at North Cape, and on Murimotu Island and the Poor Knights Islands. In 2005, C. kaspar was relegated to synonymy with C. obtecta.
Description
C. obtecta is a cabbage tree up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall (generally much less), with a stout trunk 20–30 centimetres (7.9–11.8 in) in diameter. It has spreading branches covered with densely clustered stiff leaves that appear in tufts at the tips of the branches. The leaves are 35–100 cm (14–39 in) long, and 2.5–7 cm (1.0–2.8 in) wide, narrowing towards their bases into short leaf stems about 2.5–3.5 cm (1.0–1.4 in) wide. The leaves droop somewhat as they age.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cordyline obtecta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.