A nice looking palm the dwarf variety. They will never flower, the only way of propagating them is by cutting them up. This one you would get 4 clumps if you attacked it with a reciprocal saw. I might have to do just that! 

Be very careful trying to separate clumps. They are very prone to rot when cut. I've lost enough to rot that I refuse to attempt to separate them again and risk losing the whole palm. Maybe someone can provide instructions on the best way to do so. Hacking at it with a reciprocating saw makes my blood run cold.

On 4/14/2026 at 1:09 AM, PalmatierMeg said:

Be very careful trying to separate clumps. They are very prone to rot when cut. I've lost enough to rot that I refuse to attempt to separate them again and risk losing the whole palm. Maybe someone can provide instructions on the best way to do so. Hacking at it with a reciprocating saw makes my blood run cold.

I shall take your advice. Perhaps just cut in half might be a better approach, and iam wondering if i could hose the soil out and break it apart using secaturs. 
Did you ever get any to live? 

On 4/11/2026 at 9:56 PM, happypalms said:

... This one you would get 4 clumps if you attacked it with a reciprocal saw. I might have to do just that! ...

I have seen smaller dwarfs divided that way, but they were much smaller, like in a 3-gallon pot. A plant that size, with a power saw, good luck. Might be better with a very large hand saw, fine tooth blade, kept as sterile as possible before, during and afterwards. A large, curved, sharp, bladed tool pushed in with a cleaving action might be better. A power saw could cause too much collateral damage.

Taking it out of the pot, washing the soil off might unveil possible lines of division that could have roots untwined and therefor bases that could be carefully popped apart with a prybar... maybe. A lot of time involved. You could easily kill the entire clump just in the attempt for equal sized divisions.

Search for small, stable suckers on the outer edge that have their own roots and where you could cut them free from the rest of the plant and repot. Less risk to the overall plant, but the separated suckers have a smaller chance of making it.

Could pot up the entire plant possible inducing it to sucker more, giving more attempts. Even if it did flower, the seed will unlikely be true to variety.

You could also get similar sized, regular Areca Palms and practice methods on them first to see what works.

I have not tried it myself, but divisions I have seen were planted in a sterile mix like total perlite to get them to root. They were also liquid fertilized with an agent to induce root production. 

Ryan

On 4/15/2026 at 7:44 AM, Palmarum said:

I have seen smaller dwarfs divided that way, but they were much smaller, like in a 3-gallon pot. A plant that size, with a power saw, good luck. Might be better with a very large hand saw, fine tooth blade, kept as sterile as possible before, during and afterwards. A large, curved, sharp, bladed tool pushed in with a cleaving action might be better. A power saw could cause too much collateral damage.

Taking it out of the pot, washing the soil off might unveil possible lines of division that could have roots untwined and therefor bases that could be carefully popped apart with a prybar... maybe. A lot of time involved. You could easily kill the entire clump just in the attempt for equal sized divisions.

Search for small, stable suckers on the outer edge that have their own roots and where you could cut them free from the rest of the plant and repot. Less risk to the overall plant, but the separated suckers have a smaller chance of making it.

Could pot up the entire plant possible inducing it to sucker more, giving more attempts. Even if it did flower, the seed will unlikely be true to variety.

You could also get similar sized, regular Areca Palms and practice methods on them first to see what works.

I have not tried it myself, but divisions I have seen were planted in a sterile mix like total perlite to get them to root. They were also liquid fertilized with an agent to induce root production. 

Ryan

Thanks for the advice greatly appreciated. As you suggested I might go with just a few suckers if any have a few roots. The sterile medium sounds the go. I just did a Areca vestria to see how that goes it’s sitting in a shallow tray of water with seaweed solution. Thanks for the tips! 

agree with @Palmarum

Looks like you have a Thai dwarf there.  Very nice.  I just repotted my Vietnam dwarf.  I won't separate the clump any time soon.

I planted my Thai Dwarf a year or two ago but it was not doing well. Turns out I had two specimens, one of which had died, so I dug up the smaller survivor and repotted it - hope to bring it back but will keep it in a pot here on.

My Vietnam Dwarf is a 7' tall clump and I am in the midst of thinning out some of the offsets to expose the colorful stems. All work is above ground so rot shouldn't be an issue.

1 hour ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I planted my Thai Dwarf a year or two ago but it was not doing well. Turns out I had two specimens, one of which had died, so I dug up the smaller survivor and repotted it - hope to bring it back but will keep it in a pot here on.

My Vietnam Dwarf is a 7' tall clump and I am in the midst of thinning out some of the offsets to expose the colorful stems. All work is above ground so rot shouldn't be an issue.

Still have to do your garden tour!

On 4/19/2026 at 11:26 AM, Cape Garrett said:

Looks like you have a Thai dwarf there.  Very nice.  I just repotted my Vietnam dwarf.  I won't separate the clump any time soon.

The Vietnamese variety looks a lot better the the thai variety,nice palm.

14 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

I planted my Thai Dwarf a year or two ago but it was not doing well. Turns out I had two specimens, one of which had died, so I dug up the smaller survivor and repotted it - hope to bring it back but will keep it in a pot here on.

My Vietnam Dwarf is a 7' tall clump and I am in the midst of thinning out some of the offsets to expose the colorful stems. All work is above ground so rot shouldn't be an issue.

Chrysalidocarpus lutescens definitely looks better when they thinned out and get a clean up. 
Is seven feet the final height or will it continue to get taller with more age?

5 hours ago, happypalms said:

The Vietnamese variety looks a lot better the the thai variety,nice palm.

Thanks.  I agree.  Much stiffer leaves.  More of an upright habit.  It's maybe 2 feet tall.  Fast grower.  Purchased with about 9 or ten stems.  Had more than doubled stems in 2 years.  Good grower for me.

On 4/21/2026 at 12:21 AM, Cape Garrett said:

Thanks.  I agree.  Much stiffer leaves.  More of an upright habit.  It's maybe 2 feet tall.  Fast grower.  Purchased with about 9 or ten stems.  Had more than doubled stems in 2 years.  Good grower for me.

I was given four of them, and planted two of them in my garden. You can see the elegance in the Thai variety!

The dwarf variety look nice . I still really like my full sized Lutescens, I have two . There is one that stopped putting out new stems right after trunking . The other one still sends out a new stem now and then . Both are colorful , large and very controlled. I don’t think I’ve seen any dwarf varieties here . Harry

23 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

The dwarf variety look nice . I still really like my full sized Lutescens, I have two . There is one that stopped putting out new stems right after trunking . The other one still sends out a new stem now and then . Both are colorful , large and very controlled. I don’t think I’ve seen any dwarf varieties here . Harry

Apparently there are two varieties as others have said, but I like the look of the Vietnam variety, but I will be happy with my Thai variety! 
They seem easy and very compact palm for a specific spot in the landscape. I like them.

Richard 

I have that Vietnam dwarf.  I'm getting the Thai dwarf in less than 2 weeks now.  Now I'll have both varieties.

8 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

I have that Vietnam dwarf.  I'm getting the Thai dwarf in less than 2 weeks now.  Now I'll have both varieties.

Lucky to find both varieties, there would be no chance of finding the Vietnam variety in Australia!