Cordyline Australis
Jun. 10th, 2023 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphilo I've been calling them palms, but that's wrong; they're not even related. What they are is New Zealand Cabbage Trees- or, to give them their pretty Latin name, Cordyline Australis. They're dotted about all over Eastbourne. They like our climate. We have one in our front garden and another- baby one- at the back. They're in flower at the moment and a cabbage tree in flower looks like a mortar bomb exploding
We value them as ornamental, but the Maori used to go to them for the the raw materials to make clothes, footwear, shoes and medicines. They're hardy and prolific and the fallen leaves rot down to a rich black mulch.
The picture is of a little clump of them that I can see from my study window.
We value them as ornamental, but the Maori used to go to them for the the raw materials to make clothes, footwear, shoes and medicines. They're hardy and prolific and the fallen leaves rot down to a rich black mulch.
The picture is of a little clump of them that I can see from my study window.
