Caryota mitis Seeds | Clustering Fishtail Palm
LATIN NAME: Caryota mitis
COMMON NAME: Clustering Fishtail Palm
Plant Profile
Caryota mitis is the fishtail palm of the houseplant trade, and it grows as a cluster of stems rather than as a single trunk. The leaves are twice-divided, and each leaflet is jagged at the tip, like a fish tail, which is the origin of the name. It reaches six metres in the tropics, and it suckers freely from the base.
The species is native to the understorey of the rain forests of South-East Asia, from Myanmar to the Philippines, and it grows in deep shade on moist soil. It is one of the few palms that will tolerate a dim corner indoors, which is why it is sold as a foliage plant, though it needs warmth and humidity to look well.
Science & Biotechnology
The genus is unusual in flowering only once per stem. Each stem produces flowers from the top downwards over several years, and when the last inflorescence has finished the stem dies. Because the plant clusters, the colony survives, but a single-stem fishtail palm dies after flowering, which is why the clumping habit matters in cultivation.
The fruit contains calcium oxalate crystals in needle-shaped bundles called raphides, and handling or eating it causes intense irritation and swelling. The sap is also irritating, and gloves are needed when pruning. The plant is one of several palms whose fruit is toxic to people and to pets, and it should not be grown where children might eat it.
Uses & Benefits
The palm is grown as an ornamental, indoors and in tropical gardens, and it is used as a foliage plant in shopping centres and in atria. The stem is used for light construction in its native range, and the leaf is used for thatch and for wrapping.
The sap is tapped in some districts for a sugar, and the starch in the stem is extracted for food in times of scarcity, a use that requires careful processing because of the oxalate. The fruit is not eaten, and the plant is not a commercial crop beyond the nursery trade. The leaf is also stripped for floral work in the tropics, where the fishtail shape is valued.
Growing from Seed
Seed should be sown fresh at 25 to 30 degrees, and germination is in one to three months. The seedling is slow at first, then fast. The plant can also be divided, since it suckers, and division is the way to keep a clump going after a stem has flowered and died.
Indoors, give it bright, indirect light, high humidity and a well-drained compost kept evenly moist. It resents cold water and dry air, which brown the leaflet tips. Outdoors it needs shade and shelter, and it is tender below about two degrees. Remove a dead stem at the base once it has finished flowering.
Our Take
A shade-tolerant clustering palm for a warm room, with a fish-tail leaf and a fruit that should not be handled.
Related Reading
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