Botanical name:

Cordyline australis purpureum

Common name(s):

Purple Cabbage Tree

About:

A native Cabbage tree, renowned for its strikingly lovely purple or bronze foliage, showcases an impressive appearance. It features a stout trunk that supports long, sword-like leaves, which cluster elegantly at the tips of the branches and can reach lengths of up to 1m. In the spring season, the tree produces fruit that serves as a favourite food source for the Kereru and various other native birds. This remarkable tree is often found thriving in forest margins, riverbanks, and open areas, and it is particularly abundant in regions near swamps, contributing to the biodiversity of its habitat.

Natural habitat:

Widespread and common from coastal to montane forest. Most commonly found on alluvial terraces within riparian forest from sea level to 600m.

Growing environment:

Frost, Sun, Drought, Shade, Salt, Wetland, Wind, Coastal tolerant.

Endemic distribution:

Common in the North, South and Stewart Islands. Probably naturalised on the Chatham Islands.

Height: 20m

Flowering: (September-) October-December (-January) with White flowers

Fruiting: (December-) January-March

Uses:

Bird food / Attractant, Bee food, Riparian plantings, Forests, Shelter belts & Pioneer Plantings

How to grow:

Cabbage trees are one of the most widely cultivated New Zealand natives, also being very popular in Europe, Britain and the U.S.A. They are easily grown from fresh seed (seedlings often spontaneously appear in gardens from bird-dispersed seed), emergent shoot, stem and even trunk cuttings. They are very hardy and will tolerate most soils and moisture regimes but dislikes long periods of drought. Excellent in pots and tubs.

** Seed germinates without pre treatment. 4 weeks cold stratification will help speed this up though