Cordyline

Cordyline
Cordyline fruticosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
clade:	Angiosperms
clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Lomandroideae
Genus:	Cordyline Comm. ex R.Br.[1]
Species
See text
Synonyms
Charlwoodia Sweet Cohnia Kunth Taetsia Medik.[1]

Cordyline is a genus of about 15 species of woody monocotyledonous flowering plants in family Asparagaceae, subfamily Lomandroideae. The subfamily has previously been treated as a separate family Laxmanniaceae,^[2] or Lomandraceae. Other authors have placed the genus in the Agavaceae (now Agavoideae). Cordyline is native to the western Pacific Ocean region, from New Zealand, eastern Australia, southeastern Asia, Polynesia and Hawaii.

The name Cordyline comes from the Greek word kordyle, meaning "club," a reference to the enlarged underground stems or rhizomes.^[3]

Selected species

• Cordyline australis (G.Forst.) Endl. – Cabbage Tree (New Zealand)
• Cordyline banksii Hook.f. (New Zealand)
• Cordyline cannifolia R.Br. (Australia)
• Cordyline congesta (Sweet) Steud. (eastern Australia)
• Cordyline dracaenoides Kunth
• Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev. (southeast Asia, Melanesia, northeastern Australia, the Indian Ocean, Polynesia)
• Cordyline haageana
• Cordyline indivisa (G.Forst.) Steud. – Mountain Cabbage Tree (New Zealand)
• Cordyline manners-suttoniae F.Muell. (Queensland, Australia)
• Cordyline murchisoniae F.Muell. (Queensland, Australia)
• Cordyline obtecta (Graham) Baker (Norfolk Island and northern New Zealand, syn. C. kaspar, C. baueri)
• Cordyline petiolaris (Domin) Pedley (eastern Australia)
• Cordyline pumilio Hook.f. (North Island of New Zealand)
• Cordyline rubra Otto & A.Dietr. (eastern Australia)
• Cordyline stricta (Sims) Endl. (eastern Australia)^[4][5]

Formerly placed here

• Dracaena aletriformis (Haw.) Bos (as C. rumphii Hook.)
• Dracaena fragrans (L.) Ker Gawl. (as C. fragrans (L.) Planch.)^[5]

Cultivation and uses

Members of the group are often grown as ornamental plants. Many species have been used as a foodstuff and medicine, for additional details on these and other uses see C. australis. The rhizome was roasted in an hāngi (earth oven) by Māori to extract sugar.^[6]

In Vanuatu, cordyline leaves (known locally by the Bislama name nanggaria) are worn tucked into a belt in traditional dances, with different varieties having particular symbolic meanings.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Genus: Cordyline Comm. ex R. Br.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2010-01-19. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2927. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
2. ^ Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 132–136, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x 
3. ^ Bok-mun Ho (2006). "Cordyline obtecta". Australian National Botanic Gardens. http://www.cpbr.gov.au/gnp/interns-2006/cordyline-obtecta.html. Retrieved 2008-04-12. 
4. ^ Russell Young (June 2002). "Australian Cordylines". Australian Plants online. Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants. http://asgap.org.au/APOL26/jun02-3.html. Retrieved 2008-04-12. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "GRIN Species Records of Cordyline". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2927. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
6. ^ Morton, Elsie K. (1964). Crusoes of Sunday Island. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 53.