Rhapis gracilis seed

LATIN NAME: Rhapis gracilis

COMMON NAME: Slender Lady Palm

The lady palm pleats the wide, deep-green fronds from the cane-like stems, the dense clump standing in the fine, upright look of the shaded room or the courtyard corner. The slow-growing, evergreen palm carries the fan-shaped, deeply pleated, dark-green leaves, divided into the narrow, pointed segments, on the slender, bamboo-like, green, sheathed stems, and the small, yellowish, branched flower clusters, on the short stalks, through the summer, one of the fine, quiet sights of the shaded room, drawing the bees, to be followed by the small, round, white or pale fruits with the single hard seed. The hard seeds have a very long record as the fine, room palms of the old gardens, and the plant is a historic presence of the shaded room. It is a plant of the shaded, deep, rich, moist, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The lady palm is a historic subject of the plant science, and the pleated fronds keep showing up in the work on the room palms. The way the fan-shaped, deeply pleated, dark-green leaves divide into the narrow, pointed segments has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the room palms, the bamboo-like stems and the members of the palm family. The hard seeds and the slow habit have also made it a fine study palm, and the lady palm is a regular subject of the work on the pleated fronds of the shaded world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The lady palm is a fine, useful plant of the shaded room and the study collection. The fan-shaped, deeply pleated, dark-green leaves, divided into the narrow, pointed segments, on the slender, bamboo-like, green, sheathed stems, carry the fine look of the shaded room, one of the fine, quiet sights of the shaded room, drawing the bees, and the hard seeds have a very long record as the fine, room palms of the old gardens, the neat, slow clumps coming to the courtyards, the pots and the steady practice of the old interiors, while the small, yellowish, branched flower clusters, on the short stalks, open through the summer, to be followed by the small, round, white or pale fruits with the single hard seed. It is one of the fine choices for the shaded room, the courtyard corner and the study collection, and it has been written up in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the pleated fronds and the very long history. It is a fine, useful plant of the shaded, deep, rich, moist, well-drained garden.

The lady palm seeds like a peaty, leafy soil kept warm and shaded. The young palms are slow but neat, and they appreciate the deep, rich ground of the shaded corner.

To grow the lady palm from seed, sow the round, brown seeds singly over the surface of the cell tray of peaty, leafy soil, water gently, then keep the tray in a shaded, warm spot. The seedlings thread up within a few weeks, and they grow on slowly. With the shade and the deep, rich, moist ground, the pleated fans will rise over the years.