Cordyline Flowering

[DAVEinMB]

Just noticed this morning one of my Cordyline Australis is sending out an inflorescence and thought I'd share. 

[Manalto]

Nice! Cordylines are great for adding texture to the landscape.

[DAVEinMB]

So does this mean this thing has spent its entire life in a pot? Also am I likely to start seeing multiple growth points?

[Chester B]

@DAVEinMB I don't think that's accurate.  They will flower at smaller sizes, I've seen them do it here and there's no way these specimens are 15-20 years old.

Found this from another UK website, which I feel is more accurate:

You may have seen Cordyline Australis with either single unbranched stems or forked branches. This is because the plant only divides into forks after its first flowering, which typically occurs at 6 to 10 years of age.

[DAVEinMB]

@Chester B that seems like a more reasonable time frame. So flowering is a requirement for branching but does an inflorescence immediately lead to branching?

I've noticed this to be the case with my fatsia japonica 

[DAVEinMB]

This makes it sound like it. 

Well that's exciting news

[Chester B]

39 minutes ago, DAVEinMB said:

@Chester B that seems like a more reasonable time frame. So flowering is a requirement for branching but does an inflorescence immediately lead to branching?

I've noticed this to be the case with my fatsia japonica 

Not sure.   I do see that with Fatsia and Schefflera too.

Cold damage will also cause branching if the growing point gets zapped.  After that they can send new sprouts from the trunk or the ground.

[DAVEinMB]

10 minutes ago, Chester B said:

Not sure.   I do see that with Fatsia and Schefflera too.

Cold damage will also cause branching if the growing point gets zapped.  After that they can send new sprouts from the trunk or the ground.

Well I'll be sure to post updates through this growing season. I haven't seen a multi-head specimen in the area so I'm pretty excited

[Chester B]

3 hours ago, DAVEinMB said:

Well I'll be sure to post updates through this growing season. I haven't seen a multi-head specimen in the area so I'm pretty excited

Lots of them around here, but they seem to get knocked back every 10 years, so they usually are not solitary trunks.  Out by the coast are where the mature specimens can be seen.

Here are some very short stocky ones on my street, probably 6' across.

 

Here's a cluster of them close to the Ocean

 

And a very tall compact one with a tidy appearance again near the coast

 

[DAVEinMB]

@Chester B those are all beauts. I'm well aware that at some point some winter event is going to put an end to my cordyline fun but I'm gonna enjoy them until that happens. Been a fun go so far

[DAVEinMB]

Flowers are starting to open up and man are they pretty. Looks like I got multiple growth points now too 

[DAVEinMB]