Flora of New Zealand Series

Dracaena indivisa Forst. f. Prodr.  1786,  24.

Dracaenopsis indivisa (Forst. f.) Planch. in Fl. Serres Ser. I,  6,  1850–1851,  132.

Cordyline hookeri Kirk in T.N.Z.I.  6,  1874,  245.

C. hectori Col. in T.N.Z.I.  25,  1893,  334.

Toii; Broad-leaved cabbage tree.

Type locality: Dusky Sound. Type: No specimen known, but Forster's drawings are at BM.

Plant to c. 8 m. tall; stems massive, rather sparingly branched. Lvs to 1–2 m. ×10–15 cm., broadly ensiform, drooping only in age, narrowed above base to a short petiole to c. ⅓ lamina-width; lamina glaucous abaxially where stomata are very ∞; midrib broad and conspicuous, often reddish; nerves unequal, especially adaxially, the stronger ones often reddish like midrib, meeting midrib at definite angle; margins laxly revolute. Peduncle stout, short, ± hidden. Panicle to c. 60–160 × 30 cm., tightly compact, us. (possibly always) with only first order branching from stout central axis; lower bracts broad and heavy; racemes c. 10–20 cm. long, c. 2 cm. diam. with fls on; axes hidden by crowded fls; pedicels to 2–3 mm. long, longer than in other spp. Fls inclined to be fleshy; per. c. 7–8 mm. long, tepals shortly connate, strongly recurved. Stamens c. = tepals; filaments narrow. Stigma narrow-capitate. Fr. c. 6 mm. diam., globose, bluish. Seeds c. 2 mm. long, shining, 2 sides flat and one convex. 2n = 38.

DIST.: N., S. Wetter mountains from Hunua and Coromandel Ranges to Fiordland.

Well-lit places in forest areas.

HYBRIDS AND SPECIES INCERTAE SEDIS

Kirk (T.N.Z.I. 6, 1874, 246) lists several "dubious forms" amongst N.Z. Cordyline, some of them intermediate between recognized spp.; pairs mentioned are C. banksii / C. hookeri (= C. indivisa) and C. australis / C. banksii. Carse later reported two other hybrids, giving them formal names and diagnoses.

C. × matthewsii Carse in T.N.Z.I.  57,  1926,  91. "I have little doubt that this plant. . . is a hybrid between C. australis and C. pumilio. Some forms are almost enlarged replicas of the latter, while more robust forms have the broad sheathing bases of the leaves as in the former plant." The description covers a number of variants. Original localities, all in Mangonui County: Oinu Bush, Kaitaia, H. B. Matthews.; Otukai and Kopu Okai, near Kaiaka, H. Carse. The Oinu and Otukai collections are represented in Herb. Carse at CANTY.

C. × gibbingsae Carse in T.N.Z.I.  60,  1929,  306. "This bears a striking resemblance to a small form of C. banksii lacking the stem.. . . From C. × matthewsii Carse it differs in the much longer leaves and larger flowers. Hab. North Island. Among scrub on clay hill (associated with the suggested parents [C. banksii and C. pumilio]), Waiomio, Thames, Mrs A. Gibbings." In Herb. Carse at CANTY are flowering specimens (Mrs Gibbings, Oct. 1928) and fruiting (Carse, Jan. 1929) from the type locality.

Esler (Bull. Wellington bot. Soc. No. 32, 1961, 1 and 10–11) records that, where C. australis and C. banksii overlap at altitudes between 300 and 1,000 ft on the northern tip of the Tararua Range, about one-half of the specimens cannot be ascribed strictly to either sp., but have features of both or are intermediate; a few resemble neither. He presents photographs of 2 hybrids and a table contrasting lvs and infls of the 2 parent spp. and of 3 hybrid plants.

Seed from 2 apparently hybrid plants from different sources has been grown at Lincoln. One progeny consists of plants that differ materially from their female parent, though they are fairly uniform amongst themselves, whereas the other shows considerable diversity between plants. Though the numbers of plants are small, these results lend support to the general assumption that natural hybridisation occurs.

C. sturmii Col. in T.N.Z.I.  15,  1883,  331 was described from plants grown from seed in the garden of Mr Sturm at Clive, the seed being from "the mountainous interior, near Lake Waikare". Lvs are said to be much broader and thinner than those of C. australis, not so erect and drooping below. Specimens at K and at WELT fit no accepted sp., lvs reminiscent of C. indivisa being accompanied by much-branched infls.

C. forsteri F. Muell. Select Plants Indust. Cult.  1878,  58, listed under C. australis by Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 311), remains obscure.

FL. 12–1. FT. 1–5.

C. hookeri was described from a garden plant growing at Epsom which had a stem 11½ ft high at 6 years old, bracts 5 ft × 4–5 inches, and a pendulous panicle bearing nearly 200 branches. Localities quoted: Ruahine Mts, Mt Egmont, Hunua Ranges. Lectotype: WELT 40620 in Herb. Kirk "Cultd plant from Mt Egmont".

C. hectori, "our northern subalpine Cordyline", was described from "specimens in various states" obtained by Mr Thomas Hallett in 1892, the localities mentioned being Ruahine, Kaweka, and Kaimanawa Ranges, alt. 2,000–4,000 ft. There are several sheets, WELT 24295–24298, in Herb. Colenso.

HORTICULTURAL FORMS

The N.Z. cabbage trees have considerable horticultural merit, both for landscaping and as tub plants and they are so used in many parts of the world. A number of species names have been given to garden plants. Some of the better known are listed below in chronological order, with the supposed equivalent among accepted spp., but few of the types or original descriptions have been seen.

C. superbiens C. Koch in Wochenschr. 2, 1859, 381 (C. australis).

C. beuckelaerii C. Koch in Wochenschr. 8, 1865, 91 (C. banksii).

C. lentiginosa Linden et Andre in Ill. Hort. 17, 1870, t. 35. (C. australis) "forma foliis duris rigidis brunneis", fide Baker, 1875.

C. veitchii Regel in Gartenflora 1871, 149. (C. australis) "forma costa foliorum pulchre rubra", fide Baker, 1875.

C. calocoma (Wendland) Hort. ex Baker in J. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) 14, 1875, 542.

Dracaenopsis calocoma Wendland in Bot. Ztg 17, 1859, 277 (C. australis).