Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
Photo by: Rick Cantrell, Magnolia Chapter FNPS
Photo by: Rick Cantrell, Magnolia Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

needle palm

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Family:

Arecaceae (Palmae)

Plant Specifics

Form:

palm

Size:

6 ft tall by 6 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

NA

Phenology:

Evergreen. Flowers in spring (inconspicuous). Fruits ripen in fall. Slow growing. Life span likely 50+ years (Nelson 2003).

Noted For:

Thorns, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Specimen plant, edge, understory shrub. Can be grown in a large container.

Considerations:

Old leaf bases form long stiff spines.

Availability:

Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Seed or by division of clumps. It takes determination to dig and divide a large needle palm, but it is relatively easy to transplant the suckers. Seeds germinate in about 6 to 12 months

Light:

Part Sun, Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Usually moist, occasional inundation ---to--- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Clay, Loam

Soil pH:

acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A

Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Mammals

Attracts beetles.

Provides good wildlife cover.

Native Habitats:

Moist-wet sites. Seep slope forests, regularly but shallowly inundated floodplains, seepage swamps especially associated with springs, hydric seepage slopes, and at times, some of the adjacent non-hydric slope, hydric hammock, moist upland bluffs adjacent to rivers.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments: