Pronunciation: uh-REEK-uh tree-AND-rah/try-AN-druh
Common Name: none
Areca triandra is the most cold hardy of all the Areca species (which there are a lot of) and, so far, the only one that can reliably be grown in the very best California microclimates, though growers continue to try many of the others all the time. It is a clustering species with bamboo-like trunks/stems.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: clustering with a crown of 4-7 feather leaves per stem
- Height: 20'
- Trunk: multiple; 3" thick; bamboo-like (prominently ringed white one deep green and very straight and smooth)
- Crownshaft: 1' tall; blue-green; same thickness as trunk tapering a bit towards crown
- Spread: 2'-6'+
- Leaf Description: pinnate; flat; 3'-5' long; bright green; leaflets wide and sometimes overlapping; younger palms have leaflets randomly fused into solid sections of leaflets
- Petiole/Leaf bases: very short (2"-4"); unarmed
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence: 1' long; upright; from below crankshaft; branched evenly
- Fruit: 1.5" long; ovoid; yellow turning to red-orange to brilliant red when ripe
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 32F
- Drought Tolerance: low
- Dry Heat Tolerance: low
- Wind Tolerance: low
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: slow
- Soil Preference: adaptable
- Light Requirement: filtered to partial sun near coast
- Human Hazards: none
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: other than cold intolerance, not much
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: probably a good choice
- Availability: rare
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