Cordyline

Cordyline
File:Cordyline terminalis dsc03651.jpg
Cordyline fruticosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Lomandroideae
Genus:	Cordyline Comm. ex R.Br.
Species
See text
Synonyms
Charlwoodia Sweet Cohnia Kunth Taetsia Medik.

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, 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, with one species found in western South America.

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

Species

As of March 2015, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 24 species:

• Cordyline angustissima K.Schum. – New Guinea
• Cordyline australis (G.Forst.) Endl. (Cabbage Tree) – New Zealand
• Cordyline banksii Hook.f. – New Zealand
• Cordyline cannifolia R.Br. – Australia: N.E. Northern Territory, N.E. Queensland
• Cordyline casanovae Linden ex André – Vanuatu
• Cordyline congesta (Sweet) Steud. (syn. C. dracaenoides Kunth) – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales
• Cordyline forbesii Rendle – Papua New Guinea
• Cordyline fruticosa (L.) A.Chev. – Papuasia to W. Pacific
• Cordyline indivisa (G.Forst.) Endl. (Mountain Cabbage Tree) – New Zealand
• Cordyline lateralis Lauterb. – New Guinea
• Cordyline ledermannii K.Krause – New Guinea
• Cordyline manners-suttoniae F.Muell. – Australia: N.E. Queensland
• Cordyline mauritiana (Lam.) J.F.Macbr. – Mascarenes
• Cordyline minutiflora Ridl. – New Guinea
• Cordyline murchisoniae F.Muell. (syn. C. haageana K.Koch) – Australia: E. Queensland
• Cordyline neocaledonica (Baker) B.D.Jacks. – New Caledonia
• Cordyline obtecta (Graham) Baker – Norfolk Island, N. New Zealand North Island
• Cordyline petiolaris (Domin) Pedley – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales
• Cordyline pumilio Hook.f. – New Zealand North Island
• Cordyline racemosa Ridl. – New Guinea
• Cordyline rubra Otto & A.Dietr. – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales
• Cordyline schlechteri Lauterb. – New Guinea
• Cordyline sellowiana Kunth – Bolivia to Brazil and N. Argentina
• Cordyline stricta (Sims) Endl. – Australia: S.E. Queensland to N.E. New South Wales

Formerly placed here

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

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.