Pinanga coronata Seeds | Ivory Cane Palm
LATIN NAME: Pinanga coronata
COMMON NAME: Ivory Cane Palm
Plant Profile
Ivory cane palm is a clustering palm of three to five metres with slender green stems, a pale crownshaft and pinnate leaves that are irregularly divided and often mottled. It suckers from the base to form a dense clump rather than a single trunk.
It grows in the understorey of rainforest in Java and Bali, in deep shade and constant humidity, and it is one of the commonest palms of the Balinese garden. The fruit is small, oval and red when ripe, and it hangs in long infructescences below the crown. The leaf sheaths are smooth and pale, and the mottling that some forms show is a genetic character rather than a disease.
Science & Biotechnology
The species is an understorey palm, and its leaves are adapted to low light: they are broad for their length, thin, and held horizontally to catch what light reaches the forest floor. A plant grown in full sun bleaches and scorches, which is the opposite of what most palms want.
The clustered habit comes from basal suckers that develop from buds at the base of the stem. Each stem flowers once and then dies, and the clump persists because the suckers replace it, so a healthy plant is always a mixture of ages. Seed is recalcitrant and loses viability within weeks of cleaning. The fruit is taken by birds, which carry the seed into forest gaps, and a clump in a garden usually traces back to a bird-dropped seed under a perch.
Uses & Benefits
The palm is grown as a tropical landscape plant for shaded borders, courtyards and conservatories, where the clumping habit makes a screen without a single heavy trunk. It is also sold as a houseplant, though it needs more humidity than most rooms provide.
There is no crop use. In Bali the leaves are used for temporary shelter and for wrapping food, and the stems are cut for light poles. The fruit is not eaten, and the palm is not tapped. In Bali the palm is planted in temple courtyards, where its clumping habit is read as a symbol of a household rather than a single trunk.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed in a shaded, humid bed at twenty-five to thirty degrees, and expect one to three months before germination. Clean the fruit before sowing, since the pulp invites mould.
Grow in a shaded position with high humidity and a moist, free-draining mix, and keep the plant out of direct midday sun. Water regularly and mist the foliage in dry air. In a cool climate it needs a warm conservatory, since growth stops below fifteen degrees and the leaves are damaged at five. The palm also needs a rich, organic mix, since a plant in sandy compost yellows within a season.
Our Take
A clumping understorey palm for a shaded tropical garden, and one that sulks in sun. Give it shade, humidity and room to sucker.
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