Livistona chinensis Seeds | Chinese Fan Palm
LATIN NAME: Livistona chinensis
COMMON NAME: Chinese Fan Palm
Plant Profile
Livistona chinensis is the Chinese fan palm, a single-stemmed palm growing eight to twelve metres tall, with a crown of circular, deeply divided leaves up to a metre and a half across. The leaflet tips droop, which gives the crown its soft, fountain-like outline.
It comes from the coasts of southern China, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, and it is one of the hardiest fan palms in cultivation, enduring light frost and coastal wind. The trunk is grey and ringed with leaf scars, and old leaf bases persist for years below the crown. Flower spikes appear among the leaves in summer, and the fruit hangs in heavy blue-black clusters through winter.
Science & Biotechnology
The genus is unusual among palms in being wind-pollinated and hermaphroditic, with flowers that produce both pollen and seed in the same inflorescence. The fruit is a blue-black drupe about two centimetres long, and it is spread by birds and by water along the coast.
Germination is slow and erratic, typically one to three months at 25 to 30°C, and the seedling spends years building a root system before the stem lifts. The palm is also one of the few that will grow in shade as a young plant, though it needs sun to flower well.
Uses & Benefits
The palm is planted as a specimen in warm temperate gardens, in courtyards and along streets, and it is grown indoors as a foliage plant when young. It is more cold-tolerant than most fan palms, which is why it is seen in Shanghai, Hangzhou and even in sheltered parts of Europe.
The young leaf is used for weaving hats and fans in southern China, and the fruit is eaten in some regions after processing. In cultivation the palm is valued for the fact that it does not sucker, so a single specimen stays a single specimen. In southern China the leaf is also used to wrap food for steaming, and the fibre is twisted into rope, though both uses have declined as plastic replaced them.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed in a warm, moist mix at 25 to 30°C and be patient: germination can take three months, and the seedlings are slow for the first two years. Soaking the seed for a day before sowing helps.
Plants want sun or part shade, rich soil and steady moisture, and they tolerate coastal salt. In cool climates they grow well in a large container for a decade, moved under cover for winter. Do not cut the green leaves, since the palm draws nutrients back from them before they die. Older plants transplant badly, so the time to move one is when it is still in a pot. Indoors, the palm needs a bright position and a summer outdoors, since a shaded room produces pale, weak leaves.
Our Take
The hardiest of the fan palms and the easiest to raise from seed, though it will be a decade before the crown looks like the pictures.
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