logo

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens H.Wendl.

Common Name:
1. Areca palm
2. Bamboo palm
3. Butterfly palm
4. Cane palm
5. Golden butterfly palm
6. Golden feather palm
7. Yellow palm

Areca palm is a tropical perennial plant belongs to the family Arecaceae. It can grow to 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide in its native habitat. This plant is also known as Dypsis lutescens or Areca lutescens. The genus name refers to the fruits, which are ellipsoidal and resemble a chrysalis. Specific epithet means turning yellow in reference to the yellow flowers, stems and leaflet midribs.
This tropical plant is grown as a houseplant in temperate climates. In the home, they prefer a bright location in a warm to average room and high humidity. They have multiple stems that arise from one base and large, arching, pinnately compound green fronds, yellowish-green to bright green (usually the older fronds will have leaflets with yellowish tips), Leaves are spiral arrangement, pinnately compound, entire marigin, linear, parallel venation, evergreen. The leaf blades are 12 to 18 inches, 18 to 36 inches. Panicles of yellow flowers appear in the summer and are followed by yellow-orange fruits. One of several common names, “butterfly palm” refers to the leaves that curve upwards in multiple stems that look similar to a butterfly, or it may refer to the fruits that resemble a butterfly chrysalis. Bamboo palm refers to the stems.

References:
1. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chrysalidocarpus-lutescens/common-name/areca-palm/
2. https://www.nparks.gov.sg/florafaunaweb/flora/2/6/2622
3. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST165