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Palm Lily

Cordyline rubra, Asparagaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Red Fruited Palm Lily and Red Palm Lily.

Palm Lily (Cordyline rubra), the whole plant.
Poyt448 Peter Woodard, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Palm Lily is toxic

  • Listed as non-toxic to cats by ASPCA.
  • Listed as non-toxic to dogs by ASPCA.
  • Toxic to people. Toxic to people (low severity). NC State Extension

What the sources say about its care

Light
Deep shade, Full sun, Partial Shade
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Water
Good Drainage, Moist
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Soil
High Organic Matter; pH Alkaline (>8.0), Neutral (6.0-8.0)
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
Toxic to people (low severity)
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
It needs regular water, but once established it is moderately drought tolerant.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Feeding
A slow-release fertilizer applied in early spring helps the plant.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
It can spread by root suckers and by seed.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.

Palm Lily (Cordyline rubra) growing wild.
In the wildJohn Robert McPherson, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Cordyline rubra, known as the palm lily, is an evergreen Australian plant. Growing as a shrub to around 4 metres (13 ft) tall, it is found in warm rainforest and moist eucalyptus forest. The range of natural distribution is from Lismore to near Bundaberg, Queensland.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
SE. Queensland to NE. New South Wales
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Southeast Queensland to Northeast New South Wales
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
shrub or tree
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Shrub, Tree; habit dense, erect, multi-stemmed
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 78–120 in; width 36–63 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers white; blooms in spring
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Uses

What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.

Used for food and medicine.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Cordyline

More of the Asparagaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.