Cabbage-tree Palm
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Livistona australis'', the cabbage-tree palm, is an Australian plant species in the family
Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...
. It is a tall, slender palm growing up to about 25 m in height and 0.35 m diameter.Boland ''et al.'', pp. 71–72. It is crowned with dark, glossy green leaves on petioles 2 m long. It has leaves plaited like a fan; the terminal bud of these is small but sweet. In summer it bears flower spikes with sprigs of cream-white flowers. The trees accumulate dead
fronds A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...
or leaves, which when the plant is in cultivation are often removed by an
arborist An arborist, or (less commonly) arboriculturist, is a professional in the practice of arboriculture, which is the Plant cultivation, cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants in dend ...
. It is the namesake of the
Tharawal The Tharawal people and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Yuin language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, scattered along the coasta ...
people (i.e. after its native name in their language) residing on the coast of present day
Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...
. Seeking protection from the sun, early European settlers in Australia used fibre from the native palm to create the cabbage tree hat, a distinctive form of headwear during the colonial era.


Distribution and habitat

Mostly this plant is found in moist open forest, often in swampy sites and on margins of rainforests or near the sea. It is widely spread along the
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
coast and extends north into
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and southwards to eastern Victoria, growing further south than any other native Australian palm.


Culture

The cabbage-tree palm grows best in moist, organically rich soils, and thrives in both sheltered and well-lit situations. It is also salt, frost and wind tolerant, with populations occurring in exposed coastal situations along the east coast of Australia from Queensland to Victoria. The most southerly stand is near Cabbage Tree Creek 30 kilometres east of Orbost, Victoria (37° S). Reproduction is by seeds. At first the fruit is red, finally turning black, at which point it is ready to be peeled and planted.


Significance in Aboriginal culture

The cabbage-tree palm was called "Dtharowal", where the aforementioned Tharawal language gets its name from. New growth of the tree could be cooked or eaten raw and the heart of the trunk could be cooked as a medicine to ease a sore throat. Leaves of the cabbage-tree palm were used for shelter and fibres for string, rope and fishing lines.


Gallery

Livistona australis8601289220 186afa3316 o.jpg, Fan leaf,
Burning Palms, New South Wales Burning Palms is an unbounded neighbourhood within the locality of Lilyvale and a beach in the Royal National Park, Wollongong, south of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is accessed via a very steep, moderately difficult walk down (and ...
Livistona australis8610964819 00d8e2c36c o.jpg, ''L. australis'' & casuarinas on a cliff above the sea Livistona australis 44273081951 7c6df6e73d o.jpg, ''L. australis'' Leaf detail Livistona australis 14694924608 f550957587 o.jpg, ''L. australis'' McKay Reserve, Palm Beach, NSW Livistona australis 14858545616 f8829d11b3 o.jpg, ''L. australis'' Ku-ring-gai Chase NP
NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...


References


Citations


Sources

* Boland, D.J.; Brooker, M.I.H.; Chippendale, G.M.; Hall, N.; Hyland, B.P.M.; Johnston, R.D.; Kleinig, D.A.; & Turner, J.D. (1984). ''Forest Trees of Australia''. (4th edition). Thomas Nelson, Australia; and CSIRO: Melbourne. .


External links


Australasian Virtual Herbarium: occurrence data for ''Livistona australis''PlantNET: ''Livistona australis'' description
{{Authority control australis Palms of Australia Ornamental trees Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1810