Areca catechu sunscald

[SoulofthePlace]

My Areca catechu, where it is growing at 140 m above sea level in the Azores archipelago (Macaronesia), suspect zone 11B, but due to the lack of heat could as well be 9A/B. It gets sunscald easily, as per photos (taken 24 April 2026). 

• Trunk: Discoloration, typically turning dark brown, charring, or developing cracks in the bark due to high-temperature exposure.
• Leaves: Scorched leaves or "leaf burn" occur if the plant is exposed to harsh, midday sun.

My specimen is about 12-13 years old (purchased as a seedling from the Canary islands) and in a proper tropical environment it would already be several times taller, but in the Azores it is growing very slowly, but is not dying either. Like many other tropical species that are either susceptible to diseases or simply are unable to handle the wind the rain and the cool climate between 7C and 26C with extra-estival temperatures mostly 10C to 17C although this year or even the past couple years extra-estival temperatures do not even reach 17C while staying more like 11C to 14C most of the time.

[bubba]

Beautiful specimen in an intriguing climate! It may be a little stunted but it has character and noble lines. Your climate is a real enigma. This is a specimen (maybe a tall dwarf) in South Florida:

[mnorell]

I'm afraid the terrible appearance of your palm is likely wind-burn and cold damage. Areca catechu is a heat-loving palm from southeast Asia that will suffer and fade away if exposed to cold and wind such as you describe. It is most at home in full, hot tropical sun with low temperatures in the 80sF (say, 27-30C) and high temperatures around 90F (about 32C), year-round. While it certainly appears not to have died yet (which would happen quickly due to a sharp frost or freeze), it is being slowly killed because its metabolism just can't function properly in such a chilled atmosphere.

From the point of view of a warmth-dependent tropical palm, this is a sentence to a near-frozen misery...very much like planting a coconut at the beach in California, which, despite being above 0C, is pelted by cold ocean winds and under chilly overcast for most of spring and often in summer, with cold nights year-round and cool days (very comfortable to many people!) except during heat-waves. Except that Areca catechu is probably more chill-sensitive than a coconut. To these very tropical palms, the temperatures we may not consider too bad are really a death sentence.

By the way, USDA zone ratings indicate the average minimum annual temperature over a period of 30 years (but if you have the extended data, many prefer to calculate it over their maximum data-set). So you would not be a zone 9a or 9b...because this would indicate you have average annual minimum temperatures of -1 to -6C or so, which i believe is not the case in your location in the Azores.

[Shoowow]

Looks too exposed to wind, which is the biggest culprit in the Azores. In a more wind-protected and sun-exposed area it would be doing much better.