Cordyline fruticosa

Cordyline fruticosa is an evergreen flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is known by a wide variety of common names, including ti plant, palm lily, and cabbage palm. The plant has been cultivated in Asia and Oceania, with a number of uses including food and traditional medicine. It is of great cultural importance to the traditional inhabitants of the Pacific Islands and Maritime Southeast Asia.

Description

An erect, suckering, clump forming, bush. It grows 2-5 m high. It reaches 1-2.5 m across. Normally the stems don't branch. Older trees form branches higher up. The stems are woody and covered with leaf scars. Often the leaves taper at the base, and have a bluntly pointed tip. The leaf petiole is broad and clasps the stem. It is short and has a channel along it. The leaves are strap shaped, and occur in a crown at the top and clustered in spirals near the end of the stem. The leaves are 75 cm long by 15 cm wide. The leaves are green. Some kinds have leaves with yellow or red stripes. They are 30-60 cm long. The flowers are 0.8 cm long and purple. It produces white to purple flowers in loose panicles, which are 30-60 cm long. The fruit are bright red berries. They are 8-12 mm across.

Edible Uses

The starchy rhizomes are baked and sweet. Young, unrolled leaf shoots are eaten cooked and also used for flavoring rice. The roots, though edible, are rarely used, though roasted roots can be fermented to make an alcoholic drink.

Traditional Uses

The starchy rhizomes can be used for food. They are baked. They are sweet. As food, the roots, although edible are rarely used. The young, unrolled leaf shoots are also eaten, cooked. They are also used for flavouring rice. The roasted roots can be fermented to make an alcoholic drink. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer.

Medicinal Uses

The roots and young leaves can be cooked and eaten as survival food. The leaves can make a rain cloak. In the Philippines, the roots were used to flavor the traditional intus sugarcane wines of the Lumad people of Mindanao. In Polynesia, the leaves of the green-leafed form are used to wrap food, line earth ovens and fermentation pits of breadfruit, and their rhizomes harvested and processed into a sweet molasses-like pulp eaten like candy or used to produce a honey-like liquid used in various sweet treats. In Hawaii, the roots mixed with water and fermented are also distilled into an alcoholic beverage known as okolehao. Fibers extracted from leaves are also used in cordage and in making bird traps. The plants are widely used for traditional medicine, dye, and ornamentation throughout Austronesia and New Guinea. The flowers are a traditional treatment for asthma, and their anthocyanin content has been assessed to see if they might be commercial herbal remedy. Ti is a popular ornamental plant, with numerous cultivars available, many of them selected for green or reddish or purple foliage.

Known Hazards

Roasted roots fermented to make alcoholic drink; alcohol is a cause of cancer.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It needs a temperature above 13°C. Tropical and subtropical. It grows from sea level up to 2600 m altitude. It grows in rainforests. It suits humid locations. It likes moist places. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In XTBG Yunnan. Arboretum Tasmania.

Where It Grows

Africa, American Samoa, Asia, Australia, Central America, China, Chuuk, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Easter Island, Fiji, French Polynesia, FSM, Guam, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Pacific*, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Rotuma, Samoa, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tahiti, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, West Indies, Yap,

Cultivation

It is grown from cuttings of the stalk. It can also be grown from seed, suckers or division of the clump.

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak for about 10 minutes in warm water and sow in pots. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 25°c. There is usually a good percentage germination. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on until they are at least 10cm tall before planting them out. Stem cuttings - cut off the main stem just below the head and then saw off 5cm thick blocks of stem and place them 3cm deep in pure peat in a shaded position. Keep them moist until they are rooting well, then pot them up into individual pots. Plant out when they are making good growth. Suckers.

Other Uses

The leaves are made into fringed skirts, especially for ceremonial occasions. The leaves are sometimes used as plates or trays upon which food is spread. They are free of any pronounced taste, and so are also used to wrap food that is going to be baked. The leaves are sometimes used for thatch. An ornamental plant that is often used in hedges.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

It is used as a medicine in Indonesia. There are 15-20 Cordyline species. Also put in the family Laxmanniaceae. and Agavaceae.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Andong, Good Luck Plant, Hanjuang, Hawaiian Red Ti, Kone-linne, Kun-linne, Lau ti, Masawe, Palm lily, Qai, Rauti, Si, Takaya, Tanget, te raunti, Ti vao, Ti-pore, Tie shu, Vakota, Vasili, Zaw-ma, Zhu jiao

References (64)

• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 304
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 141
• Anderson, E. F., 1993, Plants and people of the Golden Triangle. Dioscorides Press. p 207
• Barrau, J., 1976, Subsistence Agriculture in Polynesia and Micronesia. Bernice P. Bishop Museu, Bulletin 223 Honolulu Hawaii. Kraus reprint. p 60 (As Cordyline terminalis)
• Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 281 (As Cordyline terminalis)

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