Sunday, January 24, 2016

Learning From Our Visitors. Plant of the Day: Ti Plant – "Cordyline terminalis"

The high number of visitors to the Conservatory continue to amaze me.  It’s great to see everyone here!  The nice aspect of having many visitors is that there are more people to talk with about the Conservatory collection.  I'm always impressed with the folks visiting the Conservatory because they always have a smile on their face and a 'hello' ready to share.

Calathea Plant - in the Palm Dome
I met a very nice visitor today named Dave.  We talked about the plant collection in the North Garden and then walked into the Palm Dome to identify a beautiful Calathea floor cover plant that does not have a name label. What is your favorite plant app?  I’d like to learn more about what apps that are used by gardeners and botanists!
Dave told me about an app named "Garden Answers" that will help identify a plant species using a picture (taken by your cell phone) of the plant's leaf. 

In addition to the cell phone apps, another good source of information for what's going on with the Conservatory plant collections is the Conservatory Gardner's Blog located at http://www.comozooconservatory.org/blogs/gardener-blogs/

Fig Tree
The large Fig tree in the North Garden has been pruned via a 'pollard' process to prune the top small branches.  They will grow back and eventually the foliage will be as beautiful as ever!

The plant of the day is the Ti (pronounced 'tea') plant - Cordyline terminalis – also known as the Hawaiian good luck plant!  This lovely plant is a member of the Lily family (Liliaceae).  This plant is found on many Polynesian islands and in the South Pacific.  Early Polynesians believed the Ti plant had divine power. To bring good luck and to dispel evil, fresh leaves were hung around dwellings, worn around the neck, waist, and ankles, and planted around homes.   
Ti Plant
Leaves can be different colors depending on the cultivar.  One really cool use for the Ti plant is to make Hawaiian hula dancer skirts and ceremonial neck ornaments and other decorations for the high ranking chiefs and other tribe members.  The long leaves have been used as food wrappers, plates, cups, table coverings, rain capes, thatch, clothes, hula skirts, sandals, and braided into leis.  The leaves have also been used to create beverages to fight diarrhea, to feed livestock, make fiber and cloth, store food and to thatch roofs.  These plants are grown as both house plants and are used in yards for landscaping.

For more information:

Kobayashi et al. 2007.  The Hawaiian Ti. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/of-33.pdf

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