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

On reaching an isolated cabbage tree one deliberately lay down, while the other backed against the tree and stood sulkily at bay.

From Five Years in New Zealand 1859 to 1864 by Booth, Robert B.

Dracænopsis Australis.—Ti or cabbage tree of New Zealand.

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

There is here a sort of cabbage tree, of the nature of a palm, producing small cabbages, but very sweet.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10 Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time. by Kerr, Robert