Information for Junior Secondary

Cabbage Tree

• The Cabbage tree or Cabbage Palm is found in NZ and overseas in a mild climate where Palm trees thrive
• Found throughout NZ below 600m in swampy wetlands.
• The average age is around 100 years but some are aged over 400 years
• Small to medium sized tree averaging 15m with an average trunk diameter of 1.5m

Bark & Foliage

• The bark is grey in colour, corky, thick and rough
• The leaves are thick and tough and get crowded near the stem because the old leaves persist as a skirt to the younger leaves
• The trunk is mostly unbranched and straight but the crown is crowded and abundant with white flower heads in spring

Flowers and Fruit:

• Flowers are white sweetly perfumed and pollinated by insects, mainly bees
• The fruit are like white berries, slightly blue and speckled containing black seeds
• Flowering occurs in late spring and early summer, fruiting in late summer

Interesting Facts

• The white fruit is a favourite for the wood pigeon and other native birds
• The Maori use the sword like leaves in the same way as they use the flax leaves for textiles, ropes, fishing lines, baskets and cloaks. It is a hardy fast growing tree providing an interesting different look from much of the NZ bush