FNPS Plant Database

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

needle palm
  • 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:

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

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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

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Vouchered In:

Distribution
Vouchered
Not vouchered
Selected
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Starting…
Map coded by Melissa Fernandez-de Cespedes (Paynes Prairie Chapter)

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:

FNPS Plant Print

Citations:

Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell. (1999). Native Florida Plants. Gulf Publishing Company. Houston, TX.


Huegel, Craig N. (2010). Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.


Nelson, Gil. (2003). Florida's Best Landscape Plants: 200 Readily Available Species for Homeowners and Professionals. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.


Osorio, Rufino. (2001). A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.


Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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