Shade tolerant palms

[Zeeth]

I'm curious about palms that would do well in native wooded areas in Florida. By this, I mean oak hammock where saw palmetto, ferns and vines are the under story with old live oaks and pines as canopy, similar to this picture:

http://www.fnps.org/assets/images/habitats/manatee_springs_hammock.jpg

There's quite a bit of shade, from dappled to deep shade. In a yard that's mostly unkempt forest where you wanted to add palms, what species would you add? The climate is 10a, but obviously with ample frost protection.

Basically I want to know what palms you could grow well in deep shade, like you would see in a forest.

[Jimbean]

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

chamaedorea spp

rhapis excelsa

[rick]

Kerriodoxa elegans

Licualas

[Jimbean]

Wallichia triandra

Caryota mitis

Caryota urens

[Kumar]

Hi Keith, Nearly all my palms grow in shade and I can easily see which ones are doing well and which ones have frozen

Doing well:

Licuala

Chamadoreas

Ptychosperma macarthurii

Caryota mitis

L saribus

Pinanga coronata

Normanbya (very heavy shade)

Hydriastele beguinii

Both Carpoxylon and Veithia have also done surprisingly well and are on the verge of clearing the lower "canopy".

Very slow but otherwise healthy:

L chinensis

Aiphanes

Arenga

Phoenix

Synecanthus

Wallichia

I also had a Caryota urens juvenile growing in heavy shade that froze and ultimately died

Edited June 18, 2014 by Kumar

[Zeeth]

Thanks so far guys. I don't really like Raphis, Chamaedora or Caryota that much. Kerriodoxa would be a good one. Would any single trunked crownshafted palms be good for the spot? I was thinking Archontophoenix, but I wasn't sure how well they do in deep shade.

[Eric in Orlando]

Archontophoenix will grow fine in deep shade.

Archontophoenix alexandrae tends to grow a bit thinner.

Here are some others;

Aiphanes horrida

Archontophoenix- all

Areca triandra

Arenga caudata

A. engleri

A. micrantha

A. microcarpa

A. porphyrocarpa

A. ryukyuensis

A. tremula

Attalea brejinhoensis

A.cohune

A. colenda

A. rostrata

Bactris gasipaes

B. mexicana

B. setosa

Beccariophoenix fenestralis

Calamus caryotoides

Carpoxylon macrospermum

Caryota gigas

C. obtusa

Chamaedorea hooperiana

C. microspadix

C. stolonifera

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Clinostigma savoryanum

Cryosophila warscewiczii

Cyphophoenix elegans

C. nucele

Dypsis cabadae

D. madagascariensis

D. pembana

Euterpe edulis

Gaussia maya

Geonoma schottiana

Howea forsteriana

Kentiopsis oliviformis

Kerriodoxa elegans

Laccospadix australasica

Licuala fordiana

L. pelatata

L. peltata var. sumawongii

L. ramsayi

L. spinosa

Livistona australis

L. chinensis

L. fulva

L. jenkinsiana

L. robinsoniana

L. saribus

L. speciosa

Marojejya darianii

Masoala madagascariensis

Normanbya normanbyii

Oraniopsis appendiculata

Pinanga coronata

P. coronata (kuhlii form)

P. gracilis

P. philippinensis

Ravenea hildebrandtii

R. madagascariensis

R. robustior

Sabal mauritiiformis

Salacca wallichiana

Syagrus scizophylla

Veitchia arecina

Wallichia caryotoides

W. marianneae

W. oblongifolia (densiflora)

W. siamensis

[Zeeth]

Archontophoenix will grow fine in deep shade.

Archontophoenix alexandrae tends to grow a bit thinner.

Here are some others;

Aiphanes horrida

Archontophoenix- all

Areca triandra

Arenga caudata

A. engleri

A. micrantha

A. microcarpa

A. porphyrocarpa

A. ryukyuensis

A. tremula

Attalea brejinhoensis

A.cohune

A. colenda

A. rostrata

Bactris gasipaes

B. mexicana

B. setosa

Beccariophoenix fenestralis

Calamus caryotoides

Carpoxylon macrospermum

Caryota gigas

C. obtusa

Chamaedorea hooperiana

C. microspadix

C. stolonifera

Chambeyronia macrocarpa

Clinostigma savoryanum

Cryosophila warscewiczii

Cyphophoenix elegans

C. nucele

Dypsis cabadae

D. madagascariensis

D. pembana

Euterpe edulis

Gaussia maya

Geonoma schottiana

Howea forsteriana

Kentiopsis oliviformis

Kerriodoxa elegans

Laccospadix australasica

Licuala fordiana

L. pelatata

L. peltata var. sumawongii

L. ramsayi

L. spinosa

Livistona australis

L. chinensis

L. fulva

L. jenkinsiana

L. robinsoniana

L. saribus

L. speciosa

Marojejya darianii

Masoala madagascariensis

Normanbya normanbyii

Oraniopsis appendiculata

Pinanga coronata

P. coronata (kuhlii form)

P. gracilis

P. philippinensis

Ravenea hildebrandtii

R. madagascariensis

R. robustior

Sabal mauritiiformis

Salacca wallichiana

Syagrus scizophylla

Veitchia arecina

Wallichia caryotoides

W. marianneae

W. oblongifolia (densiflora)

W. siamensis

Thanks for your very complete list! I must admit that this is one aspect of palm growing that I'm not very familiar with, as I have mostly grown everything in full sun or light shade to this point. How do Pritchardia fare in shade? I have P. beccariana, P. arecina, P. hillebrandii, P. schattaueri, P. remota and P. munroi, so I'm curious if any of those would do well.

[Kumar]

Thanks so far guys. I don't really like Raphis, Chamaedora or Caryota that much. Kerriodoxa would be a good one. Would any single trunked crownshafted palms be good for the spot? I was thinking Archontophoenix, but I wasn't sure how well they do in deep shade.

Keith I have two Archontophoenix alexandrae growing in shade, one in 70% and the other 40%. They are really thin and look nothing like the massive ones I've seen in some of Wal's photos. One of them is practically stagnant (70% one) - It probably puts out 3 fronds a year.

[Peter Pacific]

Keith, I think you get the idea! But, also keep in mind that this is a list from individuals who have had certain luck with their palms in shade. It's very subjective. For example, for me and my garden, Phoenix (my roebelenii, sylvestris, reclinata, canariensis and dactyllifera all in full sun) and Cryosophila warsewiczii should be in full sun. Perhaps the Gaussias too! Do the Pinangas work for you as shade loving palms?

Peter

[KennyRE317]

i have an Archontophoenix alexandrae that is in mostly shade from the house but open skies that has been growing like crazy, it got no direct sunlight and has recently started getting some direct sunlight on the fronds as the plant is getting larger. it was purchased 3years ago as a 15gal triple with the largest being about 6' tall and now the largest is about 14' tall i think this past year it's opened about 6 fronds and and has always carried at least 2 spikes. i give it lots of water and have fertilized it this past year and you can literally watch it grow

Edited June 18, 2014 by KennyRE317