Volume 9 > Part 2 > Year 2008 > Page 122 > Lomandraceae > Cordyline

Cordyline fruticosa (L.)A. Chev.wfo-0000764243

Cat. Pl. Jard. Bot. Saigon 66. 1919; Chen Xinqi & Thurland in C.Y.Wu & P.H.Raven, Fl. China 24: 204. 2000.— Convallaria fruticosa L., Herb. Amboin. 16. 1754.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Erect shrub with unbranced or spacely branched stems up to 3 m in diam., up to 3 cm. Leaves with dilated base, petiole short or up to several cm, green or variegated, in some cultivars deep purple or with coloured stripes or spots, oblong-lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 20–60 cm long including petiole; lamina 3–10 cm wide, apex acuminate, midvein raised on lower side. Inflorescence an erect, multi-flowered, green to purple panicle, 30–70 cm long with bracts at base of the spreading branches. Flowers 6–9 mm in diam., shortly petiolate, subtended by few, minute bracts. Perianth segments linear, various shades of pink, yellow or violet; tube 5–7 mm; lobes as long as tube. Stamens slightly shorter than perianth, inserted in the throat of the perianth. Ovary with style as long as perianth or slightly shorter. Capsule shining, reddish green. Seeds usually many, black, shining.

Thailand : Widely cultivated all over the country.

Distribution : Origin uncertain but believed to be native in E Malesia and some Pacific Islands.

Ecology : Grown along plantations and in hedges, sometimes naturalized around villages from the lowlands up to 1,500 m some places even higher.

Vernacular : Mak phu (หมากผู้)(Northern); ma phu ma mia (มะผู้มะเมีย), mak phu mak mia (หมากผู้หมากเมีย)(Central).