Rhapidophyllum hystrix
needle palm
Arecaceae (Palmae)
Plant Specifics
Form:
palm
Size:
6 ft tall by 6 ft wide
Life Span:
long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
white
Fruit Color:
Phenology:
Evergreen. Flowers in spring (inconspicuous). Fruits ripen in fall. Slow growing. Life span likely 50+ years (Nelson 2003).
Noted For:
Thorns, Interesting Foliage
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Specimen plant, edge, understory shrub. Can be grown in a large container.
Considerations:
Old leaf bases form long stiff spines.
Light:
Part Sun, Shade
Moisture Tolerance:
Usually moist, occasional inundation ---- to ---- Not wet but not extremely dry
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Sand, Clay, Loam
Suitable to Grow In:
8A,8B,9A,9B,10A
Ecology
Wildlife:
Pollinators, Mammals
Attracts beetles.
Provides good wildlife cover.
Native Habitats:
Moist-wet sites. Seep slope forests, regularly but shallowly inundated floodplains, seepage swamps especially associated with springs, hydric seepage slopes, and at times, some of the adjacent non-hydric slope, hydric hammock, moist upland bluffs adjacent to rivers.
