Narrow-leaved Palm Lily (fruiting)

Description:

Cordyline congesta, commonly known as "narrow-leaved palm lily" (not to be confused with C. stricta*, also known by this common name - see notes) is an evergreen Australian plant. A rare shrub to 3 metres tall found on the margins of rainforest, and in riverine scrub and moist gullies in eucalyptus forest.... Leaves long and thin to lanceolate. Flowering occurs from September to October. Fruit an orange-red berry, 10 to 15 mm in diameter, ripening from December to March. (Wikipedia) PS: An interesting article.... http://talkingplants.blogspot.com/2016/0... NB: The various Cordyline species are neither palm nor lily. They are actually members of the asparagus family Asparagaceae, and the sub-family Lomandroideae, thus being closely related to the Lomandra (mat rush) species. In fact, there are 15 genera of plants in this sub-family. Eight species of Cordyline occur naturally in Australia, and C. congesta is listed as rare.

Habitat:

Native range is on coastal lowlands, chiefly north of the Clarence River in NSW and the far south of southeast QLD, and preferred habitat is in and along the margins of warmer rainforest. This spotting was at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, Mt. Coot-tha, in a well-established sub-tropical rainforest section of the gardens. This particular area of the gardens is known as the Melaleuca Wetlands.

Notes:

* Here's a spotting I made of the namesake plant - Cordyline stricta, which bears the same common name "narrow-leaved palm lily".... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/26... I've yet to ascertain if the fruit of C. congesta is edible, or even the leaves or roots for that matter. Cordyline stricta is definitely a recognised bush tucker plant.