''Cordyline rubra'', known as the palm lily is an evergreen Australian plant. It grows as a shrub to around 4 metres (13 ft) tall. Found in warm

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

and moist eucalyptus forest. The range of natural distribution is from Lismore to near Bundaberg, Queensland. ''Cordyline rubra'' was first described by the German botanists Christoph Friedrich Otto and

Albert Gottfried Dietrich Albert Gottfried Dietrich (8 November 1795 – 22 May 1856) was a German botanist born in Danzig. Dietrich was curator at the Botanical Garden in Berlin and was an instructor at the institute of horticulture at Berlin-Schöneberg. From 1833 to ...

in 1848. The species name is from the Latin ''ruber'' "red". ''Cordyline rubra'' is mainly identified by the leaf stems, which grow from 5 to 20 cm (2–8 in) long. They are flat or somewhat concave in shape. The leaves 15 to 50 cm (6–20 in) long, and 3 to 5.5 cm (1.4–2.2 in) wide, narrow elliptic in shape. Flowering occurs from summer, being lilac in colour. The fruit is a bright red berry, 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter. They grow on panicles 10 to 40 cm (4–16 in) long. This species propagates easily from seeds or stem cuttings. ''Cordyline rubra'' is not as widely seen in cultivation as '' C. australis'', however it is also well suited to gardens with moist soils in semi shade. It is a resilient plant and can tolerate neglect. Also suited as an indoor

pot plant Container gardening or pot gardening/farming is the practice of growing plants, including edible plants, exclusively in wikt:container, containers instead of planting them in the ground. A container in gardening is a small, enclosed and usually ...

. Occasionally it hybridizes with '' Cordyline petiolaris'' in the wild.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordyline rubra rubra Flora of New South Wales Asparagales of Australia Flora of Queensland Garden plants of Australia