Question
Lady Palm flower/seed
Hello Tom,
Please see attached photo of our 5' tall Lady Palm. This is the first time we've notice it has flowered beautifully and now we're wondering whether we can make baby Lady Palm seedlings from this yellow flower?
Thanks for your advice,
Julie
AnswerHi Julie,
Thanx for your question and the picture. What a great looking picture. Unfortunately, your lady palm needs another lady palm for pollination. I'm not a palm expert but I did find out this plant is dioecious which means there are male and female plants so you would have to have both to get seeds. The seeds can be difficult and it is easier to propagate by underground stolons which make new plants come up around the parent plant. Sometimes this plant will be monoecious or having both sexes in the flower and then I suppose it might be able to pollinate itself.
The female flowers have a 3 part pistil. The male flower stalk is much longer than the leaves and comes from amongst the leaves, toward the top of the plant.
Like I said, I am not an expert with palms so I can't really tell if this is a male or female plant. If you live near a palm nursery, I'll be they could tell you but if you're in the North, maybe someone in a specialty nursery that has tropical plants could tell you.
The botannical name is Rhapis excelsa. They are originally from South China. I hope this helps.
Tom
