Identification: Palm tree like plant is not doing so well, needs your help!

I received this plant as a present for moving to a new office. That is a thing they do very often here in Asia, though I am not sure it is common in other parts of the world. Unfortunately following the directions of the delivery service guy that sent it here, it has not been doing to well. Given that he was just a messenger, I have not given a whole lot of weight to the instructions that he gave me.

I have done my best to look through all the pictures and threads on this site, but have had no luck. Could someone please help me identify this plant and tell me how I can take care of it correctly.

By the way, the delivery guy told me about 3 cups of water everytime the soil is dry (every 3 days or so?). Some leaves are turning brown and I am not sure if I am underwatering or overwatering. I am also not sure how much sunlight it needs.

 

It is a species of fan palm, not sure which one though.

Given the size of the plant, that's probably not enough water. Give it enough water for a few drops to run out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, then do not water again until the soil feels nearly dry.

It also needs better light, close to a window.

 

Thank you! This site is cool, the responses are so quick and so many knowledgeable people. But I had a hard time sorting through all the pictures. If only someone could make an encyclopedia...

 

I'm sure it is Rhapis excelsa. It is a clumping fan-leafed palm. Given unlimited growth space, it can grow to a very large clump by sending out rhyzomes. It loves a rather acidic soil and shaded to direct sunlight. Potted indoors, it is best to be placed closest to the brightest light available.

 

Rhapis excelsa. Cool, could you explain what that means? I read on this site that people prefer to remember the scientific names. Do the scientific names tell more about the plant?

When you say grow to a very large clump, do you mean that the roots clump?

Thank you for your reply!

 

The scientific name is the same across all languages - use it with an English speaker, a Japanese speaker, an Indonesian speaker, it means the same plant to all of them, even though the plant might have different names in English, Japanese and Indonesian. So it helps in communication and finding information.

Clumping, with palms, means it grows a clump of several stems from the ground, not just a single stem. Yours already has 7 stems that I can see in the photo.

 

In using the scientific name, you are speaking as specifically as possible about a certain, in this case, palm. Rhapis Excelsa is also called a 'Lady Palm,' however, nearly every species within the genus Rhapis is also called a 'Lady Palm.' So, if you were speaking with someone about trying to find a 'Lady Palm,' you may wind up with any of five or more species... There are very good reasons for being specific in this case, as R. Excelsa is rather nicely hardy, whereas some are significantly less so.

R. Excelsa will pretty much grow indefinitely if left unchecked. It will continually put out new trunks every 3" - 12", depending on how it's potted...

 

There is also a very good website dealing with the various Japanese cultivars located here (no commercial endorsement implied):

http://www.rhapisgardens.com/rhapis-excelsa/

 

When I read again my post, I realized I have to clarify this statement: "and shaded to direct sunlight". It should be: "and shaded-to-direct sunlight". I mean it can grow in shaded sunlight or even direct sunlight.
For those who pot Rhapis excelsa, when the plant has grown too large (too tall and too many stems), it is best taken out of the pot, cut off the taller stems and re-pot the shorter ones. This will give the owners one to several pots of better looking plants!

 

Actually, in looking at these photos more closely, I'm fairly certain that this is actually *not* Rhapis Excelsa. The cane colour is wrong, as well as the leaf tips. It is either Rhapis Multifida or Rhapis Humilis (which are more rare and expensive), and I'm leaning significantly toward R. Multifida due to the cane fibre colour.

 

This is interesting. Would DGuertin please, show us pictures that help us differentiate the Rhapis DGuertin mentioned above. I am learning.

 

As always, I turn to the Palm and Cycad Society of Australia, which has a marvelous website.

http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Rhapis/multifida.html
http://www.pacsoa.org.au/palms/Rhapis/humilis.html

If you look to Rhapis Excelsa, you will see that the canes are a medium to dark brown, and the leaf tips are jagged (and frequently tinged with brown themselves). R. Multifida has canes that are tan coloured, and the leaf tips are sharply pointed. The leaf division depth is another useful thing to look at, but is hard to make out properly in the above photos.

 

DGuertin's reply is very informative, and the websites he quoted are great!

 

Rhapis --- is now by the window and getting more water. I hope it gets better soon.

Taking a look at the first site DGuertin posted, I would have to agree, probably not excelsa. It seems like excelsa's leaflets are usually wider too.

Based on the posted sites, I would say probably multifida too. Here are some clearer pictures of the leaf and canes. The ruler is in centimeters.

When biaban says to cut off the taller stems and re-pot the shorter ones, could you tell me how one would cut off the taller stems?

And a totally unrelated question ... after reading all this about plants, this question occurred to me: obviously if you don't water a plant or give it the things it needs, then it dies, but do plants have a natural age (like animals)? i.e. if you took care of a plant well, would it still die naturally eventually? sorry, sounds like a dumb question maybe but I never thought about it before.

 

Plants do have a natural age, and most palms are (in my experience at least) fairly long-lived critters. They will still eventually shuffle off this mortal coil, but some breeds can actually outlive you. An excellent example of this are what are called "housing palms" here, which attain heights of well over 30m and live several hundred years. Likewise, while cane palms (which are like yours) may have individual stalk death, the corm lives on and sends up new canes. A Toquilla palm, for example, has stalks that live about three years, but the corm can be into its hundreds before it goes.

 

I'm a newbee on this list. I don't know if out of topic can be responded, but I'll respond to tokyodave's question. When I said to cut off the taller stems and re-pot the shorter ones, I mean when you find the plant too tall or too large and it's time for you to re-pot it, you take it out of the pot, cut off the taller canes and all the unwanted canes from the corm and re-plant the rest into the pot after you replenish the medium.

In my own experience, a Rhapis excelsa can live in a pot indoor uncared for months. At the time I didn't even care to water it. But it lived on. Growth was very slow.

 

Any questions that come up within the plant discussion are valid, Biaban, and we try to answer them as they come up.

 

To follow up on that... When you remove it from the pot, you will see where the individual trunks come from. You can follow the roots through from the bottom of the individual trunk, and cut them as far from the trunk as possible. Repot those, and you've just increased your collection, as well as given everything more room to grow. Math jokes aside, multiplication by division is a very common practice, especially with Rhapis species. These grow slow as a stone when you're starting from seed, so most divide an established plant.

 

Very pretty Palm. I have two palms that I purchased at Lowes, assorted Palms is what the tag says. I have one on my front porch and one in my living room (med. light). Water usage (semi-moist). I water when the soil looks dry on the surface and mist them with water daily. I cut off the browning leaves at the origin where discolored. Be careful not to overwater, these palms are perfect for the office.