20 Interesting Facts about The Areca Palm Tree
The Areca Palm is an interesting tree, yet many people do not know that much about it. It is a beautiful tree that has the binomial name of Dypsis Lutescens and can be found in large numbers in and around the Madagascar area as well as in other areas throughout the world, including the United States. The Areca Palm tree is part of the Arecaceae family. Read on for more information about this interesting and beautiful palm tree.
1. The Tree of Many Names
Not only is the Areca Palm tree also known by its scientific names of Dypsis Lutescens and Chrysalidocarpus lutescens, but it is also known as a bamboo palm tree, the golden cane palm tree, the Cane Palm, the Madagascar Palm, the Golden Feather Palm, the Yellow Palm, and even the Butterfly palm tree.
2. Endangered
According to Natural Panaa, the Areca palm was once an endangered species and, by some botanists, it still is considered to be endangered in its native Madagascar. That is odd since you can see many of these beautiful trees throughout the warm climate areas of the United States that resemble small bamboo trees.
3. Height and Width
This tree will grow to about six to 12 meters in height, which is equal to 20 to 39 feet tall. Its frond arches out about two to three meters long and boasts 40 to 60 pairs of leaflets.
4. A Decade Long
This beautiful tree, which some refer to as a plant, will live up to 10 years. While this is an entire decade long, it is certainly not as long as many trees live since most have been around for more than 100 years.
5. Brighten Your Space
According to Gardening Know How, the Areca Palm tree is the palm that is used most often and by more people to brighten up the interiors of houses, offices, and other spaces. This may be due to the fact that it boasts beautiful, feathery fronds that arch, and each has up to 100 leaflets attached to them.
6. Needs Attention
This type of large, bold plant-type small tree needs attention on a regular basis, especially when you grow one inside your home. They can be purchased as a smaller plant that can be grown on a tabletop, since a full-grown Areca Palm tree can be pricier. The small plants will grow about six to 10 inches each year until they reach about six to seven feet tall. It is one of the few palm trees that can handle being trimmed often without any serious harm, which means you can keep it indoors throughout the lifespan of this palm tree, which is up to one decade.
7. Let There Be Light
It is imperative to successfully grow this amazing palm tree to ensure it receives the amount of light it needs to grow and thrive, especially when you are growing it inside your home or office. The Areca palm tree needs very bright but indirect sunlight, preferably from a south or even west-facing window of your home or office. While it is not difficult to take care of an Areca palm tree inside your home, keep in mind that it will not tolerate any type of neglect, so you need to know and understand how to take care of it properly on a regular basis, much like other types of palm trees.
8. Time to Water
The Areca Palm tree needs to be watered often enough so that the soil is kept lightly moist in the spring and summer. You can allow the soil to dry out just a little bit between waterings during the fall and winter months.
9. Fertilize It
You should definitely put fertilizer in the soil for your Areca Palm tree that contains a time-release formula. You should do this every spring, which will provide your tree with enough nutrients to last throughout the entire season. You could also use some type of micro-nutrient spray during the summer on the fronds of this amazing tree or you can go with a liquid houseplant fertilizer that contains micro-nutrients for this same purpose. You need to make sure that the product you use says on the label that it is safe for foliar feedings and then dilute it according to the instructions on the label. You do not want to feed this tree micro-nutrients during the fall and winter.
10. Re-Potting is Necessary
Areca palm trees that are kept indoors in a pot will need to be repotted to a larger one every two to three years. While this tree enjoys a tight container, this will crowd the roots, which will help to limit the size of the plant. This means if you want your tree to grow larger, you will need to replant it to a larger container or pot more often. The main reason for repotting is to be able to place your tree in new soil and take it out of the aged potting soil while removing fertilizer salt deposits that can build up in the soil over time as well as on the sides of the pot.
You should use a potting soil that is made specifically for palm trees and palm plants or some sort of general-purpose soil mix that is changed up by using a handful of clean builder sand. Be sure that the new pot or container you are using to replant your tree into is the same width as the old one. This is because if you plant it too deeply, it can cause serious damage to your palm tree. The roots are very brittle, so you do not want to try to spread them out yourself because they will break.
After you fill in and around the roots with the new soil, you can use your hands to press down to ensure that the soil is packed tightly. You can then flood the pot with water to get rid of any air pockets that have formed, then press it down again. You should add additional soil if it is necessary to do so.
11. Outdoor Planting
Planting an Areca palm tree outdoors is pretty simple. The Areca palm tree is a fast-growing tree compared to many other plants and trees. The most ideal spot to plant our Areca palm tree is an area that will receive partial sunlight and has plenty of good drainage. If you cut through the roots of this beautiful palm tree that tend to grow in a circle, it can make the roots grow more quickly. The best time of the year to plant your Areca Palm tree is during the springtime after the last frost has occurred. This will allow it to grow longer and take root better before cold weather arrives again during the fall and winter months.
12. An Air Purifying Kind of Tree
The Areca palm tree is considered to be one of the best pollutant-absorbing trees or plants in the world. This palm tree will absorb a variety of very harmful toxic gases, such as NO2, Formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, SO2, and several others. According to Our House Plants.com, the Areca palm tree is even ranked by a study through NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) as a top air-purifying plant or tree.
This is because the Areca Palm is biologically engineered to be able to take in carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen back into the air and environment. It is a great idea to have at least four of these trees indoors per each person that lives in your household to fully purify the air while removing dangerous chemicals and toxins from the air you breathe on a regular basis.
13. Fosters Healthy Living
Keeping in line with the fact that the Areca Palm tree removes toxins and harmful chemicals from the air we breathe indoors, it does a great job of keeping odors down inside your home also. This is because the most common pollutants inside our homes come from heating, cooling, and even cooking. The Areca palm tree absorbs those kinds of pollutants, and even allergens, to allow us to breathe fresh air on a daily basis.
14. Nuts About Medicine
The Areca Palm tree produces nuts that are known as betel nuts that are used in Ayurvedic traditional Chinese medicine as part of purifying treatments. This type of nut is a mild stimulant that can increase a person’s sense of alertness. The nuts have both a sweet and spicy taste to them, so they are not difficult to ingest.
15. The Appearance of an Areca Palm Tree
The beautiful Areca Palm Tree boasts a trunk that is silver-green in color and smooth to the touch. The trunk is topped with feather-shaped fronds that are arching over the top of it. The leaves grow in clusters that form thick clumps of stems. There are usually about six to eight leaves that are yellow-green in color on long petioles that are curved upwards, which create an appearance that resembles a butterfly. This is the reason the Areca Palm tree is often times referred to as a butterfly palm tree. Its pinnate-type leaves can grow up to five to seven feet long and each leaf has around 90 to 110 leaflets that are arranged in the shape of a V.
16. Mature Areca Palm Trees
More mature Areca Palm Trees have trunks that are cane-like with rings which are very similar to the Bamboo Palm tree. The Areca Palm tree is often referred to as the Golden Cane Palm tree because its petioles are yellow in color.
17. The Growth Rate of an Areca Palm Tree
The growth rate of an Areca palm tree is considered to be moderate. It can grow up to 20 feet tall and will grow wider before it gets taller.
18. The Flowers and Fruits of the Areca Palm Tree
During late spring or even the early part of summer, the Areca palm tree will produce small, very bright yellow flowers that will grow out from beneath the leaves. These male and female flowers are on the same inflorescence. A few months after the flowers bloom, they change to light green or yellow fruits that will then turn a yellow-orange color when they are ripe. These fruits sport an oval-style shape and are about one inch in diameter. Although they are very pretty to look at, they are not edible, so you should not eat them.
19. Creating Privacy
The exciting thing about planting your Areca Palm trees outdoors is the fact that if you plant several along a driveway, walkway, or even property line, they can form a type of privacy fence or privacy wall. This allows you more freedom to relax in your yard without too much intrusion from neighbors on each side of you.
20. Cold Tolerance
The Areca Palm tree is able to tolerate lower temperatures down to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit but only when they are mature enough to handle it. This type of tree grows best in USDA hardiness zones of 9A, which is 20 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, to 11, which is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now that you know these 20 amazing facts about the gorgeous Areca Palm Tree, you can impress your friends and family with your knowledge when you spot one in your area or while you are exploring other areas that foster the growth of these beautiful trees.
