What is "cabbage tree"

Cabbage \Cab"bage\ (k[a^]b"b[asl]j), n. [OE. cabage, fr. F. cabus headed (of cabbages), chou cabus headed cabbage, cabbage head; cf. It. capuccio a little head, cappuccio cowl, hood, cabbage, fr. capo head, L. caput, or fr. It. cappa cape. See Chief, Cape.] (Bot.)

1. An esculent vegetable of many varieties, derived from the wild Brassica oleracea of Europe. The common cabbage has a compact head of leaves. The cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc., are sometimes classed as cabbages.

2. The terminal bud of certain palm trees, used, like, cabbage, for food. See Cabbage tree, below.

3. The cabbage palmetto. See below. Cabbage aphis (Zo["o]l.), a green plant-louse ( Aphis brassic[ae]) which lives upon the leaves of the cabbage. Cabbage beetle (Zo["o]l.), a small, striped flea-beetle ( Phyllotreta vittata) which lives, in the larval state, on the roots, and when adult, on the leaves, of cabbage and other cruciferous plants. Cabbage fly (Zo["o]l.), a small two-winged fly ( Anthomyia brassic[ae]), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop. Cabbage head, the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; -- contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and silly person; a numskull. Cabbage palmetto, a species of palm tree ( Sabal Palmetto) found along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Cabbage rose (Bot.), a species of rose ( Rosa centifolia) having large and heavy blossoms. Cabbage tree, Cabbage palm, a name given to palms having a terminal bud called a cabbage, as the Sabal Palmetto of the United States, and the Euterpe oleracea and Oreodoxa oleracea of the West Indies. Sea cabbage.(Bot.)

   1. Sea kale

   2. . The original Plant ( Brassica oleracea), from which the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc., have been derived by cultivation.

      Thousand-headed cabbage. See Brussels sprouts.

1. n: Australian palm with leaf buds that are edible when young [syn: cabbage palm, Livistona australis]

2. tree with shaggy unpleasant-smelling toxic bark and yielding strong durable wood; bark and seeds used as a purgative and vermifuge and narcotic [syn: cabbage bark, cabbage-bark tree, Andira inermis]

3. elegant tree having either a single trunk or a branching trunk each with terminal clusters of long narrow leaves and large panicles of fragrant white, yellow or red flowers; New Zealand [syn: grass tree, Cordyline australis]

Cabbage tree is a common name for several plant species:

• Andira inermis, native to Central and South America
• Various members of the genus Cordyline native to New Zealand.
  • Cordyline australis (Cabbage tree or Tī kōuka)
  • Cordyline banksii (Forest cabbage tree or Tī ngahere)
  • Cordyline indivisa (Mountain cabbage tree, Broad-leaved cabbage tree, Tōī or Tī tōī)
  • Cordyline obtecta (Three Kings cabbage tree, native also to Norfolk Island, where it is known as Norfolk Island cabbage tree)
  • Cordyline pumilio (Dwarf cabbage tree, Pygmy cabbage tree, Tī rauriki or Tī koraha)
• Cussonia spicata, native to southern parts of Africa
• Dendroseris litoralis, native to Chile's Juan Fernandez archipelago
• Gyrocarpus americanus
• Livistona australis, the Cabbage tree palm of coastal New South Wales
• Moringa stenopetala, a crop tree native to Ethiopia and Kenya
• Various members of the Asteraceae from Saint Helena
  • Pladaroxylon leucadendron (He cabbage tree - so called because its leaves are hairy)
  • Lachanodes arborea (She cabbage tree - so called because its leaves are not hairy)
  • Melanodendron integrifolium (Black cabbage tree)