Cabbage Tree – Cordyline australis or Ti Kouka $6.5 each or $5.50 for 10 or more each. These are in a 2.5 L pot, 30-50 cm in height and ready to start shooting for the sky.
An iconic New Zealand tree that is tough as anything. They are good container specimens for large containers.
Juvenile foliage makes an impressive display as the plant reaches for the sky. Grows everywhere in Wellington. Fruit attracts birds from January-April. Produces nectar for bees from November. Evergreen. Hardy.
The tender shoots can be eaten, raw or cooked. One of the amazing things we find is they apparently have a symbiotic relationship with Native Oysters, we often find them growing on the cabbage trees in Oyster season. Rumor has it, you only need to lay a native oyster on the stem/trunk to inoculate the tree for fungi.We innoculate all our trees with native oyster spawn, endemic to Upper Hutt bush.