Cordyline australis
species of plant
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 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 feet 3 inches) long. With its tall, straight trunk and dense, rounded heads, the tree is a characteristic feature of the New Zealand landscape. It is common over a wide latitudinal range from the far north of the North Island to the south of the South Island. It grows in a broad range of habitats.
Māori used it 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. It 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, Canada and the British Isles, where its common names include Cornish palm, cabbage palm, Torbay palm and Torquay palm.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cordyline australis” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cordyline, australis and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2379130. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cordyline australis” 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.