Pronunciation: lih-vih-STONE-uh lah-new-jin-OH-suh
Common Name: Cape River Fan Palm; Wooly Palm
Livistona lanuginosa is another of the easy-to-grow Livistonas from Australia, though this one seems to be a bit harder to find in cultivation. It is a grey-ish-leaved palm relative to most of the others with much greener leaves, and its leaves have a bit less of a ribbon-leaf look. It is one of the most drought tolerant and heat hardy of the Livistonas and an excellent fan palm for the desert regions.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: solitary with a crown of 15-25 fan leaves
- Height: 40'
- Trunk: single; 10" thick; lower portion covered with short, un-split leaf bases; coppery-brown to grey; closely ringed; some coarse, horizontal fibrous weave among retained leaf bases on upper trunk
- Crownshaft: none
- Spread: 15'
- Leaf Description: costapalmate; wedge-shaped; grey to blue-green; 10' long; split to about half the leaf length; stiff leaflets with very little 'ribbon-leaf' droop at the tip; a bit less sparsely leaved than most other Australian large Livistonas; sparse skirt of dead leaves often exist
- Petiole/Leaf bases: 7' long; light green to medium yellow-green; stiff with only a bit of arching; armed with sharp, curved black teeth
- Reproduction: monoecious
- Inflorescence: 4'-5' long; from within leaves; pale yellow; 45 degrees from center; arching at the tips; branched at the tips only
- Fruit: spherical; 1" thick; purple-brown to black when ripe
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 25F
- Drought Tolerance: high
- Dry Heat Tolerance:
- Cool Tolerance: excellent
- Wind Tolerance: good
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: moderate
- Soil Preference: adaptable
- Light Requirement: full sun
- Human Hazards: sharp petiolar teeth
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: none
- Transplants?: unknown
- Indoor?: unknown
- Availability: very rare
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