Dypsis lutescens

Gold fruit palm ( Dypsis lutescens )

The gold palm tree fruit ( Dypsis lutescens ) is a native to Madagascar Plant of the palm family ( Arecaceae ). It is a common houseplant.

Features

The gold palm tree fruit is multi-stemmed, the stems can grow up over 8 m high are at a diameter of 5 to 7.5 cm. The younger root sections are dark green to yellow or orange, depending on the exposure: at high light intensity, the strain yellow. The rings of leaf scars are arranged relatively close. The crown is wide and 3.3 meters high and four meters. An adult home group can reach a height of 12 m and a width of 6.5 m. The crown shaft is about one meter long, grayish green extends to almost silver-gray and slightly at the base.

The leaves are 1.8 to 2.4 m long, narrow ovate and beautifully curved. The leaf stalks are 60 inches long, as are the thin and narrow - lanceolate, yellow-green to dark green leaflets. These are from a 40 ° angle from the rachis, forming a distinct V-shape of the leaf blade. Petiole and rachis are light green to almost orange, also depends on the light intensity. The leaves move in the lightest wind. The crown consists of six to eight leaves.

The inflorescence stems are pendulous, branched and arise below the crown shaft. The flowers are yellow. The fruits are ovoid, 2.5 cm long and yellow -orange to purple or black.

Dissemination and locations

The species is endemic to eastern Madagascar. It grows on the sandy riverbanks and clearings in the wet forests. Your area is small and spread over several isolated sites that are threatened by the expansion of agriculture. Therefore, the species is threatened with extinction ( critically endangered ).

Use

The gold palm tree fruit is often set in tropical areas outdoors as an ornamental plant. It is cold- sensitive and only grows in USDA climate zones 10b and 11 in the open air, without taking damage. Because of their rapid growth and their Mehrstämmigkeit she survives in zone 10a with frost damage. Compared with the type of soil it is insensitive, as long as the soil is well drained. It requires a lot of water and light.

It is also one of the most common houseplants, requires a lot of light here and is often infested with dryness of spider mites.

System

The species was first described in 1878 by the German botanist lutescens Hermann Wendland as Chrysalidocarpus. Like several other Malagasy genera, the monotypic genus Chrysalidocarpus 1995 by Henk Jaap Beentje and John Dransfield was placed in her work Palms of Madagascar in the genus Dypsis, named Dypsis lutescens. In gardener circles, the palm is also performed under the name Areca lutescens, but this is not a valid synonym described.

Documents

• Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft: An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms, 4th edition, Timber Press, Portland, 2007, ISBN 978-0-88192-558-6, p 330