Photograph of Butterfly Palm, Golden Cane Palm (Areca lutescens)

Areca is a genus of palms with tall slender cane-like trunks or stems and graceful feathery, plume-like foliage, 6 to 8 feet long in clusters at the top of the stems. Butterfly Palm, Areca lutescens, is a gracefull, fast growing, specie raised outdoors in zones 9 - 11. They are easily grown indoors in colder climate zones as containers plants. Butterfly palms grow well in clumps and look more natural that way than grown singly. Butterfly Palm will require a lot of overhead light, especially when grown indoors. Soil should be rich, moist and loamy, and plant should be fed monthly with a commercial tropical plant food, or a plant food specifically formulated for palms.

These photographs were taken at Kohns Conservatory in Eden Park, Cincinatti, Ohio in May, 1999.

Winter hardy in sones 9 - 11.