Licuala spinosa

Licuala spinosa, the mangrove fan palm, is a clump-forming fan palm of the South-East Asian lowlands, from Bangladesh and the Andaman Islands to the Philippines. A mature plant is a thicket of thin stems up to about 4 m tall, topped by round, glossy leaves split into stiff, wedge-shaped segments with toothed tips.

Unlike most of its shade-loving relatives, it grows in open, sunny, often wet places behind mangroves and along ditches, and it tolerates salt-laden air.

At a glance

• Native range: Bangladesh and the Andaman Islands to Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines
• Mature size: stems to about 4 m, in dense clumps
• Growth rate: fairly fast in warm climates
• Light: full sun is best; also grows in part shade
• Water: generous and steady; thrives in wet, poorly drained ground
• Cold hardiness: about −2 to −3 °C reported
• Indoors / outdoors: outdoors in tropical and warm subtropical gardens; grown under glass elsewhere

Care

Give it full sun for stiffer, more folded leaves, and as much water as you like; it even tolerates brackish conditions. It copes with coastal wind and salt better than most Licuala. The leaf stalks are armed from end to end with hooked spines, so plant it away from paths.

Why Palmpedia: Raised in our Almeirim greenhouse in Portugal and supplied in 15 L to 35 L pots.