Cordyline
Cordyline fruticosa
Also called Ti plant and Hawaiian ti
Houseplant · Trees & big statementsFluoride in tap water burns the tips brown and no amount of trimming stops it coming back. Rainwater fixes this plant more than anything else will.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Hard
- Water
- Once a weekDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Bright indirect
- Feed
- Every 30 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 1.8 m tall · 0.8 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsToxic to pets
Affects dogs, cats, horses. Signs: vomiting, sometimes with blood, lethargy, loss of appetite, drooling, and dilated pupils in cats.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Leaf tips go brown with a yellow band behind them on plants given tap water — the colour in the leaf fades before the tip does.Fluoride tip burn · disorder
- The colour goes flat and greyish across the whole plant, with webbing where a leaf clasps the cane.Glasshouse red spider mite · pest