Could someone please let me know what kind of tree this is? I think it is a type of palm, but I am not sure how to take care of it. The top part seems to be rotting away with an orange fuzz towards the top. But it is putting out leaves fast and furious. Thank you treesaregood
It is a cycad, not a palm. Looks like it needs a larger pot, there's hardly any root space there compared to the size of the plant. Make sure to use a pot with a drainage hole in the bottom. Water fairly sparingly, so the soil is just moist, not wet or soggy, and let it get almost completely dry inbetween waterings. And use a well-drained soil mix, like that sold for cacti.
"But it is putting out leaves fast and furious" doesn't sound like dead to me! The new leaves are that colour from dense pubescence (like the "orange fuzz towards the top"). It did presumably have a near-death experience though, to lose all its older leaves.
It may be that 'orange fuzz' is indicative of it being a female cycad; depends on the nature of the 'fuzz.' Looks to be a very, very old cycad, though.
I agree with RonB, in that I think it is a Revoluta (without nourishment). It is root-bound, without a doubt. Re-pot and fertilize, for goodness sake.
Thank you for your comments. With the information I was provided and looking on the Internet and talking to Thais I think my plant is a Cycas clivicola or in Thai Prong Khao. I have only owned the plant for a few weeks. I have often noticed them at the markets here (Thailand). They are generally in pots with NO soil or on the ground in piles. The roots are completely cut back, as are the leaves. They are transported from the mountains in pickup trucks like this. They look completely lifeless, but at some markets I sometimes noticed that a few had started to show signs of new leaves. This one was at a market with one other. The roots and leaves were cut back completely, but the leaves still showed a bit of green. There was little orange fuzz. I asked the price and it was much lower than usual (at about USD $10.00), so I suspect the seller thought it was dead also. Anyway I bought it and was the laughing stock of the neighborhood as everyone thought I was silly for buying a dead tree (although even as simply a piece of wood, the gnarly shape of the trunk has an intriguing beauty and worth $10.00 regardless). I soaked it in water in a large garbage can for 12 hours or so and put it in a pot I had around the house. In a few days it began to show signs of rotting and the red fuzz appeared, I began to lose hope. I talked to some men at the market and they said that I would have to wait for 6 months to 1 year to see signs of life and told me to only water it once every 2 weeks. In about 2 weeks after I potted it, I was amazed to see that leaves were beginning to sprout right out of the apparently dead trunk! It is now throwing out leaves, but they are sagging and not looking all that healthy. I intend to repot the plant in a larger pot with good drainage and see what happens. Again thank you so much for your advice.
Sadly, that's not an uncommon treatment for cycads. DO NOT MOVE IT FROM THAT POT!!! It *will* take 6 months to a year to put out enough roots to even begin to support itself, which is where the fellow at the market was right about it not putting out new leaves for just as long. It needs to fill out its root system first. If you up and move it now, you will damage whatever roots have formed, and set it back that much further.
