Cabbage Tree An Evergreen Tree often Mistaken for a Palm with round heads of Lance -Shaped Leaves and sprays of sweetly perfumed, white flowers in early summer. In it`s native New Zealand it is found growing from Coast to Mountain forest (300-800m above sea level). The Tree was an Important source of fibre for the Maori in making of Clothing, Baskets, Ropes and Fishing Lines. The young blanched inner leaves were cooked and eaten hence the name Cabbage Tree.