page_title: Cordyline australis
section_title: Māori cultural uses
hierarchical_section_title: Cordyline australis / Māori cultural uses
caption_attribution_description: English: A group of Māori children on a morere swing, a tall pole with ropes attached from its top, flying out over a bank, watched by a group of seated adults and children. The palisades of a pa are in the right background and a low hill in the distance. According to Simpson, P. (2000). Dancing Leaves: The story of the New Zealand cabbage tree: Tī Kōuka. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 160, the ropes for the morere were tī emi, ropes made by gathering together leaves or fibres of Cordyline australis (tī, cabbage tree). This part of the image cropped out, resized, tidied up.
context_page_description: Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree or cabbage-palm, is a widely branched monocot tree endemic to New Zealand.
  It grows up to 20 metres tall with a stout trunk and sword-like leaves, which are clustered at the tips of the branches and can be up to 1 metre long. With its tall, straight trunk and dense, rounded heads, it is a characteristic feature of the New Zealand landscape. Its fruit is a favourite food source for the New Zealand pigeon and other native birds. It is common over a wide latitudinal range from the far north of the North Island at 34° 25′S to the south of the South Island at 46° 30′S. Absent from much of Fiordland, it was probably introduced by Māori to the Chatham Islands at 44° 00′S and to Stewart Island at 46° 50′S. It grows in a broad range of habitats, including forest margins, river banks and open places, and is abundant near swamps. The largest known tree with a single trunk is growing at Pakawau, Golden Bay. It is estimated to be 400 or 500 years old, and stands 17 metres tall with a circumference of 9 metres at the base.
context_section_description: In traditional times, Māori had a rich knowledge of the cabbage tree, including spiritual, ecological and many practical aspects of its use. While much of that specialised knowledge was lost after the European settlement of New Zealand, the use of the tree as food and medicine has persisted, and the use of its fibres for weaving is becoming more common.
caption: Morere swings provided a source of amusement for Māori children. The ropes had to be strong, so they were often made from leaves or fibre of C. australis, which were much tougher than the fibres of New Zealand flax
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