A Favoured Tree

Small Cabbage Tree in Flower. Arts Centre, Christchurch. Nov. 2009 Ajr

Ti Kouka = Cabbage Tree
(From the Cordyline family)
The cabbage tree has always had a favoured place in traditional Maori life. Its leaves are tough – much tougher than flax – and they were dried and used to make bird snares, roof thatching and sandals for the feet. The root, the pith of the trunk and the sweet sap are all edible and because of their prolific distribution, the trees provided a ready and abundant food source. It is still said that if the cabbage trees flower early in spring, we’re in for a long, hot, dry summer. The cabbage tree is also incredibly hardy and resilient and if you cut it back – even severely – it sprouts vigorous new growth. (This is just happened to the large cabbage tree in my garden. It was recently topped quite harshly because it was interfering with power lines and already, just a few months on, it has several lush new bunches of leaves). This capacity to regenerate is referred to in the old Maori proverb: “Ka whiti te ti, ka wana te ti, ka rito te ti – When a cabbage tree is broken it shoots up, and grows a new head of leaves.”

When a Cabbage is a Tree

Cabbage Trees, Banks Peninsular 2007 Ajr
Cordyline australis - Ti Kouka in Maori and the common cabbage tree to most New Zealanders – is commonly considered a member of the lily family; one of the largest tree lilies in the world in fact. Yet it is not quite a lily; it’s not a palm; it’s definitely not a cabbage and it’s not really a tree. I have a large one in my garden and while it’s an attractive tree, I hate the way it sheds its leaves all over my garden. Made of a very tough non-composting fibre, they won’t rot away in the compost heap, so I tie them in tight bundles and use them as kindling. They make excellent kindling. The early Maori also recognised the toughness of the leaf fibre and used it for making kete (baskets) bird snares, ropes and cords. They also made kauru (a sweet chewable food) from the roots of young cabbage trees; and early European settlers used the roots for brewing “a tolerable beer.” I loved this pair of cabbage trees, photographed just beneath Monument Rock, above Purau Bay on Banks Peninsular.