cabbage tree

American  

noun

1. any tropical tree or treelike plant having leaves or edible shoots suggestive of cabbage.

2. an Australian palm tree of the genus Livistona, especially L. australis.

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cabbage tree British  

noun

1. Also called: ti.  a tree, Cordyline australis, of New Zealand having a tall branchless trunk and a palmlike top

2. any of several other similar trees of the genus Cordyline

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Etymology

Origin of cabbage tree

First recorded in 1715–25

Example Sentences

As the helicopter darted through a small hole in the low-lying clouds, we were greeted by a riot of green, the dense beech forests punctuated with lighter-colored cabbage tree palms.

From Washington Post • Jan. 8, 2015

There is a cabbage tree next to his house.

From Time Magazine Archive

He laughed, and said that grogo is the name of a big maggot which is found in the Cockarito palm or cabbage tree.

From Will Weatherhelm The Yarn of an Old Sailor by Webb, Archibald

This island is well covered with wood, the chief of which is the large and dwarf mangrove, the bamboo, and the cabbage tree.

From The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1789) by Phillip, Arthur

Australian Ti, or cabbage tree, a palm-like plant of 15 to 20 feet in height.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William