''Cordyline'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 24 species of woody

monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...

ous

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, subfamily

Lomandroideae Lomandroideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales, according to the APG III system of 2009. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, '' Lomandra''. The group has ...

. The subfamily has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae, or Lomandraceae. Other authors have placed the genus in the Agavaceae (now

Agavoideae Agavoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Agavaceae. The group includes many well-known desert and dry-zone types, such as the agaves ...

). ''Cordyline'' is native to the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

region, from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, southeastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, with one species found in southeastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The name ''Cordyline'' comes from the Greek word ''kordyle'', meaning "club," a reference to the enlarged underground stems or

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

Species

, the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) was an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected p ...

accepted 24 species: * '' Cordyline angustissima'' K.Schum. – New Guinea * ''

Cordyline australis ''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, or by its Māori language, Māori name of ''tī'' or ''tī kōuka'', is a widely branched monocotyledon, monocot tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a s ...

'' (G.Forst.) Endl. (Cabbage Tree) – New Zealand * ''

Cordyline banksii ''Cordyline banksii'' (forest cabbage tree, ''tī ngahere'') is a monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. The specific epithet ''banksii'' refers to the 18th-century botanist Joseph Banks. Distribution ''Cordyline banksii'' tolerates a wide varie ...

'' Hook.f. (syn. ''C. diffusa'' Colenso.) – New Zealand * '' Cordyline cannifolia'' R.Br. – Australia: N.E. Northern Territory, N.E. Queensland * '' Cordyline casanovae'' Linden ex André – Vanuatu * '' Cordyline congesta'' (Sweet) Steud. (syn. ''C. dracaenoides'' Kunth) – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales * '' Cordyline diffusa'' Colenso. (syn. ''C. banksii'' Hook.f.) – New Zealand * '' Cordyline forbesii'' Rendle – Papua New Guinea * ''

Cordyline fruticosa ''Cordyline fruticosa'' is an evergreen flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is known by a wide variety of common names, including ti plant, palm lily, cabbage palm. The plant has been cultivated in Asia and Oceania, with a number of ...

'' (L.) A.Chev. – Papuasia to W. Pacific * '' Cordyline indivisa'' (G.Forst.) Endl. (mountain cabbage tree) – New Zealand (syn. ''Cordyline hectori'', ''Cordyline hookeri'') * '' Cordyline lateralis'' Lauterb. – New Guinea * '' Cordyline ledermannii'' K.Krause – New Guinea * '' Cordyline manners-suttoniae'' F.Muell. – Australia: N.E. Queensland * ''

Cordyline mauritiana ''Cordyline'' is a genus of about 24 species of woody monocotyledonous flowering plants in family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. The subfamily has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae, or Lomandraceae. Other authors ...

'' (Lam.) J.F.Macbr. – Mascarenes * '' Cordyline minutiflora'' Ridl. – New Guinea * '' Cordyline murchisoniae'' F.Muell. (syn. ''C. haageana'' K.Koch) – Australia: E. Queensland * '' Cordyline neocaledonica'' (Baker) B.D.Jacks. – New Caledonia * ''

Cordyline obtecta ''Cordyline obtecta'' (Ti, Norfolk Island cabbage tree, Three Kings cabbage tree) is a widely branching monocot tree native to Norfolk Island (the type locality), and to northern New Zealand. The species name ''obtecta'' derives from the Latin ' ...

'' (Graham) Baker – Norfolk Island, N. New Zealand North Island * '' Cordyline petiolaris'' (Domin) Pedley – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales * ''

Cordyline pumilio ''Cordyline pumilio'', commonly known as the dwarf cabbage tree, pygmy cabbage tree or by its Māori names tī koraha or tī rauriki, is a narrow-leaved monocot shrub endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It usually grows up to tall, alth ...

'' Hook.f. – New Zealand North Island * '' Cordyline racemosa'' Ridl. – New Guinea * '' Cordyline rubra'' Otto & A.Dietr. – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales * '' Cordyline schlechteri'' Lauterb. – New Guinea * '' Cordyline sellowiana'' Kunth – Bolivia to Brazil and N. Argentina * '' Cordyline stricta'' (Sims) Endl. – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales

Formerly placed here

*'' Dracaena aletriformis'' (Haw.) Bos (as ''C. rumphii'' Hook.) *'' Dracaena elliptica'' Thunb. & Dalm. (as ''C. maculata'' (Roxb.) Planch. and ''C. sieboldii'' Planch.) *''

Dracaena fragrans ''Dracaena fragrans'' (cornstalk dracaena), is a flowering plant species that is native to tropical Africa, from Sudan south to Mozambique, west to Côte d'Ivoire and southwest to Angola, growing in upland regions at altitude.JSTOR Plant Science ...

'' (L.) Ker Gawl. (as ''C. fragrans'' (L.) Planch.)

Cultivation and uses

Members of the group are often grown as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s - notably '' C. australis'' and '' C. fruticosa''. Many species have been used as a foodstuff and medicine, for additional details on these and other uses see the article on ''C. australis''. The rhizome was roasted in an

hāngī Hāngī () is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called an ''umu''. It is still used for large groups on special occasions, as it allows large quantities of food to be cooked witho ...

(earth oven) by

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

to extract sugar. In the highlands of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. leaves of ''Cordyline'' and other plants are tied to sticks to mark taboo areas where pandanus language must be spoken during

karuka The karuka (''Pandanus julianettii'', also called karuka nut and ''Pandanus'' nut) is a species of tree in the screwpine family (Pandanaceae) and an important regional food crop in New Guinea. The nuts are more nutritious than coconuts, and ar ...

harvest.

References

{{Authority control Asparagaceae genera Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)