Cordyline Comm. ex Juss. (1789), in the family Convallariaceae, contains around 15 species in Australasia and 1 in tropical America. Description Trees to 20m, with trunks eventually 1.5m across, or shrubs, sometimes stemless and suckering. Leaves sword-shaped, usually soft. Flowers in long or short, arching or hanging sprays; individual flowers small, whitish or purplish, bisexual. Sepals and petals similar, 6, waxy, joined at the base, which becomes fleshy as the fruit matures. Stamens 6, with versatile anthers. Ovary superior, with 3 cells and 1 thick style. Pollination is by various insects. The fruits are fleshy, white or bluish berries (red in some tropical species) with numerous curved, black seeds. Key Recognition Features The soft, sword-shaped leaves on a thick trunk, and arching sprays of small, scented, starry flowers. Evolution and Relationships Cordyline is close to Dracaena Vand. ex L. which includes D. draco, (L.) L., the dragon tree of the Canaries and North Africa. Cordyline has been put in the Lomandraceae, with Lomandra Labill. and Xanthorrhoea Sm., the grass trees of Australia, or sometimes in Agavaceae, Dracaenaceae, or Xanthorrhoeaceae. All these families may be considered part of the wider Convallariaceae. Ecology and Geography In forests and swamps throughout New Zealand, in Australia, New Guinea, and Polynesia, with 1 species in tropical America. Comment Cordyline australis (Forster fil.) Endl. the cabbage tree or Torbay palm, is widely cultivated in cool, maritime climates; C. indivisa (Forster fil.) Steud. is less hardy but more spectacular, particularly as a young plant; it has wide leaves, glaucous beneath, with red nerves.
Photographed in New Zealand
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