Tree Ferns and Cabbage Trees
The cabbage tree Cordyline australis, known as Tī rākau or Tī kōuka (and, more rarely, whanake) in the Māori language is a monocotyledon endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 15 m tall, at first on a single stem, but dividing into a much-branched crown; each branch may fork after producing a flowering stem. The leaves are sword-shaped, 40 to 90 cm long and 3 to 7 cm broad at the base, with numerous parallel veins. The flowers are creamy white, each flower small, about 1cm diameter with six tepals, and produced in a large, dense cluster 50 to 100 cm long. The fruit is a white berry 5 to 7 mm in diameter.
Because their high carbohydrate content can be made digestible by cooking, they were a valuable food source for the Māori. Related trees were probably valuable elsewhere in the South Pacific. Fern root was the only other substantial native carbohydrate source.
Tree Ferns and Cabbage Trees
The cabbage tree Cordyline australis, known as Tī rākau or Tī kōuka (and, more rarely, whanake) in the Māori language is a monocotyledon endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 15 m tall, at first on a single stem, but dividing into a much-branched crown; each branch may fork after producing a flowering stem. The leaves are sword-shaped, 40 to 90 cm long and 3 to 7 cm broad at the base, with numerous parallel veins. The flowers are creamy white, each flower small, about 1cm diameter with six tepals, and produced in a large, dense cluster 50 to 100 cm long. The fruit is a white berry 5 to 7 mm in diameter.
Because their high carbohydrate content can be made digestible by cooking, they were a valuable food source for the Māori. Related trees were probably valuable elsewhere in the South Pacific. Fern root was the only other substantial native carbohydrate source.