Forest cabbage tree

Description

Cordyline banksii (forest cabbage tree, t- ngahere) is a monocot tree endemic to New Zealand. The specific epithet banksii refers to the 18th-century botanist Joseph Banks is a sparingly-branched cabbage tree up to 4 metres (13 ft) tall. The leaves are lanceolate (somewhat paddle-shaped), up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in)long and from 40-80 millimetres (1.6-3.1 in) wide. The leaves are broad in the mid portion and droop from there. A prominent flat midrib runs the whole length of the leaf. The fruiting panicle is up to 2 metres in length. The flowers are white and pleasantly perfumed. The globe-shaped fruit are up to 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter, and are white, bluish-white, or blue.