Australian Native Palms

[peachy]

There's been a bit of discussion lately about the under use of many of our lovely Australian native palm species.  We have a large range of palms suitable from Equatorial zones right down to cool Temperate areas.  You may see many of 'King Palms' in gardens around the world but nearly always only the Cunninghamia or Alexandrae. Wouldn't a display of the Archontophoenix species with the coloured crownshafts make a better display ?  Foxtails are as common as geraniums but it's taller, more elegant counterpart, the Normanbya is virtually unknown to the general public.  Livistona decora and L australis are well known also but there are so many other native livistona out there. There are also our Calamus, Ptychsperma, Linospadix and quite few others that I can't bring to mind at the moment.

Are there any IPS people out there with a garden consisting of purely Australian Native Palms ?  If so I would love a tour or at least some shared photos. Does anyone else think there would be a place for a nursery that only sold our lovely natives ?  Maybe someone has a large native collection they are willing to share some photos of ?

It's just an idea I have had for a while and would love to know other members opinions.

Peachy

[Tyrone]

I agree Peachy. Not many people outside palm circles even know we have native palms here. 
I don’t only grow Australian palms but my collection is heavily invested in Australian palms and I’m also pushing into the Aussie cycad direction as well. I’ve got all the Archontophoenix species, would like to grow more Aussie Livistonas, and there of course are the Howeas and Hedyscepe. I’m trying to mass plant lots of the same species because I have the space to do it. Trying to get more Linospadix going along with Laccospadix and once you enter the cycad domain, Macrozamia, Lepidozamia etc. What I can’t wait for is for someone to say, why don’t you grow natives instead of all these palms. 

[Mazat]

3 hours ago, peachy said:

There's been a bit of discussion lately about the under use of many of our lovely Australian native palm species.  We have a large range of palms suitable from Equatorial zones right down to cool Temperate areas.  You may see many of 'King Palms' in gardens around the world but nearly always only the Cunninghamia or Alexandrae. Wouldn't a display of the Archontophoenix species with the coloured crownshafts make a better display ?  Foxtails are as common as geraniums but it's taller, more elegant counterpart, the Normanbya is virtually unknown to the general public.  Livistona decora and L australis are well known also but there are so many other native livistona out there. There are also our Calamus, Ptychsperma, Linospadix and quite few others that I can't bring to mind at the moment.

Are there any IPS people out there with a garden consisting of purely Australian Native Palms ?  If so I would love a tour or at least some shared photos. Does anyone else think there would be a place for a nursery that only sold our lovely natives ?  Maybe someone has a large native collection they are willing to share some photos of ?

It's just an idea I have had for a while and would love to know other members opinions.

Peachy

yes, you have a wonderful huge variety of palm species and plant species and this in various climate zones, impressive and it delights the heart 🤗♥️

[happypalms]

There are a couple native nursery’s around that only sell Australian native plants and will not look at anything but Australian native plants. And it would be an interesting garden just solely native palms. A nice avenue of solitaire palms would be fantastic to look at. 
Richard 

[Harry’s Palms]

I became aware of the wide variety of palms that are from Australia early on . I got a book about palms and noticed that many of the palms I liked were from that part of the world. Back then , the Wodyetia was protected and seed was not allowed to be exported to the US . The ease of regulation made it possible for the rest of us to acquire some Archontophoenix with different crownshaft colorings and characteristics. Last year I was given a pot of about 5-6 seedlings . They are a mix of Maxima and Purperae . I had shown a fellow collector one of my prize possessions , an A. Alexandrea that I got over 25 years ago from a big box store , labeled as “King” Palm. I knew it was different from all the others on the pallet by the silver underside and darker green leaves . There are many types of palms from your country that I would love to grow but some won’t like it here. To me , one of the nicest looking Livistona is the Australis and they thrive here . In my humble opinion they are under used in landscaping, although Ventura put a bunch of mature specimens in at the new addition at the hospital. Harry

[mike in kurtistown]

When I lived near the coast in central Florida, where temperatures commonly dipped below freezing for a few days during the winter,  I developed an interest in Australian Livistonas that could take it without damage. Now I am in east Hawaii Island, but I retained my interest in Australian Livs. I have 10-15 year old specimens of benthamii, muelleri, fulva, drudei, lanuginosa, and rigida. I even have a small leichartii (kimberlyana or lorophylla) that is hanging in there. The fulvas have had some problems, possibly because my soils aren't very deep in places, but the others have done fine.

 

[Calix_LA]

Totally agree—Australian native palms don’t get nearly enough love! A dedicated native palm nursery would be amazing, especially showcasing rarer species like colored Archontophoenix or Normanbya. I’ve got a mix in my garden but lean heavy on Aussie species—Archontophoenix, Livistonas, even some Linospadix. Would love to see more mass plantings of them in landscapes.

If anyone’s got a full native palm garden, please share pics! Maybe we could even put together a list of top Aussie species for different climates to help spread the word.

[Jonathan]

Great topic...although I'm obviously biased!

So many Aus natives grow well in my climate, probably a higher percentage of the total palm flora of any continent except Nth America I'd think...oh and Europe, which is 100%!

My current list of species in ground:

Livistona australis (Eungella Qld form and Durras NSW form, so close to northern and southern extreme of the species distribution. No discernible difference in cold hardiness)

L nitida

L fulva

L decora

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana 

Hedyscepe 

Lepidorrachis 

Howea f

Rhopalostylis baueri

Species waiting to be planted:

Livistona rigida

L drudei 

L mariae 

Archontophoenix alexandrae

A maxima

Howea b

Linospadix monostachya 

Laccospadix 

I count 17 species out of 60 total, so nearly 1/3...I'm thinking that I might be able to push that out to around 20 with L lanuginosa and a couple of the highland Linospadix from NQ...but it might be a stretch. Still, a good list considering I live on a sub Antarctic island!

 

 

[tim_brissy_13]

I really love all the Australian natives. Great range of palms from large to tiny, rainforest dwellers to tolerant of arid conditions. You can make a diverse looking garden just with Aussie native palms. Here’s my collection:

Archontophoenix alexandrae

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana x Alexandrae 

Archontophoenix maxima*

Archontophoenix myolensis

Archontophoenix purpurea

Archontophoenix tuckeri
Calamus muelleri*
Hedyscepe canterburyana

Howea belmoreana
H forsteriana

Laccospadix australasica clumping form

L australasica solitary form

Lepidorrachis mooreana

Linospadix apetiolatus

Linospadix microcaryus

Linospadix minor

Linospadix monostachyos

Linospadix monostachyos fine leaf form

Linospadix palmerianus*

Livistona alfredii

Livistona fulva 

Livistona muelleri*

Livistona nitida

Livistona rigida

Livistona victoriae*

Oraniopsis appendiculata 

Ptychosperma sp Black Fruit*
Rhopalostylis baueri var baueri

*not planted in ground yet  

 So I think that’s nearly half of the natives plus a hybrid. There’s probably scope for me to expand my Livistona collection as most would grow well here, but space is the issue. A few species are very marginal and usually don’t do well down here (Ptychosperma elegans, Licuala ramsayi, Wodyetia, Normanbya) while others aren’t even worth the thought (Hydriastele sp). 

Here’s a few photos of my favourites. 
 

A myolensis

 

A purpurea 

 

H canterburyana

 

O appendiculata 

 

L mooreana

 

L apetiolatus 

[Jonathan]

29 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

I really love all the Australian natives. Great range of palms from large to tiny, rainforest dwellers to tolerant of arid conditions. You can make a diverse looking garden just with Aussie native palms. Here’s my collection:

 

Archontophoenix alexandrae

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana x Alexandrae 

Archontophoenix maxima*

Archontophoenix myolensis

Archontophoenix purpurea

Archontophoenix tuckeri
Calamus muelleri*
Hedyscepe canterburyana

Howea belmoreana
H forsteriana

Laccospadix australasica clumping form

L australasica solitary form

Lepidorrachis mooreana

 

Linospadix apetiolatus

Linospadix microcaryus

Linospadix minor

Linospadix monostachyos

Linospadix monostachyos fine leaf form

Linospadix palmerianus*

Livistona alfredii

Livistona fulva 

Livistona muelleri*

Livistona nitida

Livistona rigida

Livistona victoriae*

Oraniopsis appendiculata 

Ptychosperma sp Black Fruit*
Rhopalostylis baueri var baueri

*not planted in ground yet  

 So I think that’s nearly half of the natives plus a hybrid. There’s probably scope for me to expand my Livistona collection as most would grow well here, but space is the issue. A few species are very marginal and usually don’t do well down here (Ptychosperma elegans, Licuala ramsayi, Wodyetia, Normanbya) while others aren’t even worth the thought (Hydriastele sp). 

Here’s a few photos of my favourites. 
 

A myolensis

 

A purpurea 

 

H canterburyana

 

O appendiculata 

 

L mooreana

 

L apetiolatus 

Great collection Tim...I'd completely forgotten A purpurea, Oraniopsis and Calamus. I reckon C muelleri, caryotoides and australis are worth a shot here, so maybe I can stretch to around 25.

[happypalms]

19 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Great topic...although I'm obviously biased!

So many Aus natives grow well in my climate, probably a higher percentage of the total palm flora of any continent except Nth America I'd think...oh and Europe, which is 100%!

My current list of species in ground:

Livistona australis (Eungella Qld form and Durras NSW form, so close to northern and southern extreme of the species distribution. No discernible difference in cold hardiness)

L nitida

L fulva

L decora

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana 

Hedyscepe 

Lepidorrachis 

Howea f

Rhopalostylis baueri

Species waiting to be planted:

Livistona rigida

L drudei 

L mariae 

Archontophoenix alexandrae

A maxima

Howea b

Linospadix monostachya 

Laccospadix 

I count 17 species out of 60 total, so nearly 1/3...I'm thinking that I might be able to push that out to around 20 with L lanuginosa and a couple of the highland Linospadix from NQ...but it might be a stretch. Still, a good list considering I live on a sub Antarctic island!

 

 

How about licuala ramsayi there quite cool tolerant I got a few for you?

 

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Great collection Tim...I'd completely forgotten A purpurea, Oraniopsis and Calamus. I reckon C muelleri, caryotoides and australis are worth a shot here, so maybe I can stretch to around 25.

I got all three waiting for you to hire the Lear jet and fly up and get them. I understand your helicopter 🚁 would be a bit slow to get here like growing palms in Tasmania a bit slow🤣

[JohnAndSancho]

7 minutes ago, happypalms said:

How about licuala ramsayi there quite cool tolerant I got a few for you?

 

I actually bought one of these and it didn't last. I think this was one of the palms I bought during an insane heat wave. I've also bought palms during freezes. Live and learn.... I was really hoping it lived, it was awesome. My baby Spinosa are still alive though. 

[tim_brissy_13]

34 minutes ago, happypalms said:

How about licuala ramsayi there quite cool tolerant I got a few for you?

 

Very marginal in Melbourne. Will survive and actually look ok in shade under canopy if kept moist but barely grows and doesn’t really gain size. Would be no chance in Tassie. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I actually bought one of these and it didn't last. I think this was one of the palms I bought during an insane heat wave. I've also bought palms during freezes. Live and learn.... I was really hoping it lived, it was awesome. My baby Spinosa are still alive though. 

If anyone can kill a palm, well you know the rules. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Just now, happypalms said:

If anyone can kill a palm, well you know the rules. 

@DoomsDave once told me "if you ain't killing, you ain't growing" 

[peachy]

4 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Very marginal in Melbourne. Will survive and actually look ok in shade under canopy if kept moist but barely grows and doesn’t really gain size. Would be no chance in Tassie. 

There is one planted on a balcony garden near me. Been there for 25 years with no noticeable growth.  I had one that laughed at me for 12 years so when I moved here, I bought a tiny cheapie from Bunnings. It's in bright light but no direct sun and I feed it regularly (that is the big secret) and it is now 1.5 metres and has picked up pace markedly in the last year. It is in a very large pot which for some perverse reason seems to suit them better than in the ground for me.   I don't have an alexander, they are too variable around here and can turn into all shapes and sizes. Tuckeri is the other I haven't bothered to get as I really can't tell the difference between them and a well fed bangalow. My Linospadix and Laccospadix (single trunk form) are too small to plant as yet but my Carpentaria and Normanbya will both be planted in spring. There used to be so many L australis around here in old gardens but most of those big gardens have been bulldozed to build hideous unit blocks. L decora became a fad in the 90s so there is no shortage of those and the flying foxes adore them for colony housing.  I would love more of the Livistona species but only have a dunny size yard but if I ever see L inermis for sale it will be snavelled immediately.

Peachy

[Jonathan]

6 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Very marginal in Melbourne. Will survive and actually look ok in shade under canopy if kept moist but barely grows and doesn’t really gain size. Would be no chance in Tassie. 

Harsh but true! Gotta know your limitations...

 

[Jonathan]

7 hours ago, happypalms said:

I got all three waiting for you to hire the Lear jet and fly up and get them. I understand your helicopter 🚁 would be a bit slow to get here like growing palms in Tasmania a bit slow🤣

Also harsh, also true!

[Rivera]

On 6/15/2025 at 9:50 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

My baby Spinosa are still alive though.

John, I forgot your exact location but Licuala spinosa may go outdoors for you if you don't see consistent drops below the high 20s F. 

As a Californian, I don't have much to lend to the conversation other than to acknowledge that there are many lovely palms and dicots native to Australia. 

While a favorable climate for growing and a home to a wealth of native flora, California's not rich in native palms.

There's room in any size garden for favored exotic species, but it's always rewarding to include natives and experience that extra bit of life that they bring. 

[JohnAndSancho]

5 hours ago, Rivera said:

John, I forgot your exact location but Licuala spinosa may go outdoors for you if you don't see consistent drops below the high 20s F. 

I'm in East Mississippi now after almost 20 years in Texas. Between going through 2021 and this past January I'm almost afraid to plant out anything. We hit a low of 9° in January. Everyone around us got buried in snow and instead, we just got brutal cold. I've had friends asking me to move up north to places like NC and TN and I told them I lived down here because I never wanted to see snow or real winters, and - welp - winter found me. I should have an absolute bounty of various Sabals in the next couple years.