Cordyline congesta

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Plant  information

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Monocots > Asparagales > Asparagaceae > Lomandroideae > Cordyline  congesta

Other links:     

Common name:                Narrow-leaved Palm Lily  

Conservation status:  Rare

Etymology:   

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

• Latin congestus = 'congested' or 'crowded together'

Flowers:                  

• Small white to mauve flowers form on panicles

• Flowering occurs from September to October

Fruit:                         

• Fruit an orange-red berry, 10–15 mm in diameter, ripening from December to March

Leaves:         

• Leaves long and thin to lanceolate

• Up to 65 centimetres long by 4 cm 

• Stiff marginal teeth near the base of leaf

• Leaf stem up to 15 cm long

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• An evergreen Australian plant

• A rare shrub up to 3 m tall 

Habitat:   

• Margins of rainforest, and in riverine scrub and moist gullies in eucalyptus forest

Distribution:                  

• Growing north from the Clarence River, NSW

Additional notes:     

• This species propagates easily from seeds, suckers or stem cuttings.

• Similar to Cordyline stricta and C. rubra; however, C. congesta has jagged, fringed or scolloped leaf margins, particularly near the leaf base

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_congesta (2023)