Phil Bendle Collection:Cordyline indivisa (Mountain Cabbage Tree)

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Laxmanniaceae
Genus: Cordyline
Species: C. indivisa
Binomial name: Cordyline indivisa
Synonyms: Dracaena, Dracaenopsis indivisa, Cordyline hookeri, Cordyline hectori
Common names: Mountain Cabbage tree, Broad-leaved cabbage tree. Toi

Cordyline indivisa is very distinctive. The species can be distinguished from all other Cordyline species by its very broad blue-grey leaves, and it's smaller, tightly compacted inflorescence which is produced from beneath the foliage. It forms a stout tree up to 8 m tall, with a trunk from 40 to 80 cm in diameter. The stem is usually unbranched or has very few branches. The leaves are 1 to 2 metres long, and from 10-15cm wide, a blue-green and are shaped like a broadsword. They have conspicuous midrib which is often tinged red, orange-red or golden. Dead leaves forming a skirt at the base of the tuft.
The inflorescence which appears November- December is a panicle that arises from the base of the growing points underneath the leaves. Small blueish fruit develop January-May.
It is found In open places in the forest where there is plenty of light, including road and track margins between 450 and 1350 metres above sea level on Mt Taranaki/Egmont.

 

The top surface of a leaf.

The underside of a leaf.

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 

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