Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Cordyline australis

Other names

Torbay Palm, Torquay Palm, Cabbage Tree

Family

Asparagaceae

Flowering season

July to August (May in the Isles of Scilly)

English distribution

It is scattered throughout the country but is most common

around Greater London and the far Southwest

For a map see the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland –

Cabbage-palm

Habitat

It is a neophyte introduced from New Zealand in the

late 1760s after Captain Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific.

 - see a comprehensive article on Cordyline australis

on Wikipedia.

It is widely grown in the UK as an architectural plant

and its ability to produce large numbers of fertile seeds

facilitates its to spread into the wild.

Description

Cabbage-palm is and evergreen tree growing up to 8m.

The flowers are formed in large flower spikes (panicles)

up to 1m.

The flowers are crowded on the panicles and comprise

6 creamy-white tepals, up to 6mm.

There are 6 white stamens and the style has a 3-lobed

stigma.

The anthers and stigma are yellow.

The fruit is a a white berry up to 7mm. Large numbers

of berries are produced.

Leaves are sword-shaped, green and up to 1m long and

7cm wide. They fray at the ends and don't have terminal

spikes.

They are formed at the base of a young tree and

clustered in bunches at the ends of branches.

Before it flowers, Cabbage-palm has a slender

unbranched trunk.

After the first flowering the trunk continues to grow

and begins to branch.

Cordyline australis is an iconic tree in New Zealand

 important 

both in Maori culture and as a food source for insects

 and birds (see Wikipedia link).