What is cabbage?
Despite its name, the cabbage tree is not a tree that grows cabbage sold in a local supermarket. This is actually a common name for a number of different trees. One of the most recognized is cordyline australis , a tree similar to a tree in New Zealand. Arara inermis is another species known as this name that grows in Mexico, Central America and South America, while Black cabbage, melanodendron integrifolium , is endemic or found exclusively on the South Atlantic Island in St. Helena. The tree can reach a height of 39 feet (12 m) to 65 feet (20 m) with a bare trunk and branches near the top. The leaves are long and similar to blades, appear in clusters on branches. In spring, the tree will flourish with fragrant white, red or yellow flowers.
Maoris, a group of indigenous people from New Zealand, used a tree for fibers and medicine and captured its branches into baskets, ropes and sandals. Soon European settlers made beer from roots and ate inner leaves and stems of rawor cooked like vegetables. They are those who have started to call a dry tree resistant as cabbage. The suitcase was so resistant to fire that the settlers used their wood to build chimneys. This tree of cabbage has been successfully transplanted in the US, Europe and the UK, where it is referred to as Torquay Palm.
cabbage found in the tropical zones of Central and South America and Western Africa can also reach a height of 65 feet (20 m). This evergreen has pink and purple flowers in the spring and produces small fruit with a single large seed. The gray cortex was used in herbal drugs for generations as a medicine for intestinal worms, worms and other fungal skin infections, but the Mubat plant is used with great care. In fact, this tree is considered to be a poison and too much dose can cause vomiting, fever and even death. Castor oil and lime juice were used as antidots.
Black cabbage is located only on the island of St. Helena, located in southern Atlantic about halfway between South America and Alaskau. This tree is smaller than others, reaching an average height of 13 feet (4 m) and has strong dark leaves that grow in clusters reminiscent of the head of cabbage at the end of the branches. You can find them in wet areas on mountain slopes. The bark, which is always wet, tends to be covered with mosses, lichens and ferns.
black cabbage is also a flowering tree and produces flowers consisting of a cluster of small yellow disk flowers surrounded by flower white petals. The black curtain tree is protected on the regulation of endangered species due to its limited extent of the growing range and the threat of penetration of Neindigens species transplanted to St. Helena. The active program for planting was launched in two national parks on the island to protect this species.