Cordyline congesta (Sweet) Steud. APNI* 
Description: Shrub to 3 m high, sparsely branched.
Leaves linear to narrow-lanceolate, 30–40 cm long, 2–4 cm wide; margins of petiole and lower part of lamina cartilaginous, irregularly toothed and rough; upper to mid-region margins of lamina scabrous with irregular prickles; lamina narrowed into a shallowly incurved petiole 10–20 cm long.
Panicles 20–35 cm long; scape 10–25 cm long; pedicels 0.5–1 mm long. Perianth glabrous, bluish; tepals unequal, outer tepals 6.5–9.5 mm long, inner ones 8.5–10.5 mm long.
Fruit 10–15 mm diam., orange-red.
Distribution and occurrence: On coastal lowlands, chiefly north of the Clarence R. In and on the margins of warmer rainforest.
NSW subdivisions: NC, NT
Other Australian states: Qld
Often confused with C. rubra and C. stricta, but differing in having leaves with scabrous and erose margins (L. Pedley (1986) Flora of Australia 46: 82). May hybridise with C. stricta, or there may be a third taxon (with purplish to black fruits, scabrous lamina margins, narrow leaves with flat petiolar region).
Text by G. J. Harden (1993); edited KL Wilson (Feb 2013)
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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