Neoveitchia storckii

Neoveitchia storckii, known in Fiji as vilaito, is a robust feather palm found in the wild only in south-eastern Viti Levu, and listed as Endangered. It rises on a stout, pale, ringed trunk with a broadly swollen foot, and carries a dense head of long, arching leaves whose broad leaflets twist sideways.

Its glossy, dark green to almost black leaf bases split open rather than forming a closed crownshaft. Raised from Fijian seed in botanical gardens around the world, it is now more common in cultivation than in the wild.

At a glance

• Native range: Fiji (Viti Levu)
• Mature size: usually 12–15 m
• Growth rate: moderate
• Light: some shade when young; full sun after four to five years if well watered
• Water: a heavy drinker; moist but free-draining soil
• Cold hardiness: little or no frost tolerance; minimum about +2 °C
• Indoors / outdoors: outdoors only in the tropics; elsewhere a palm for a heated glasshouse

Care

Keep it warm and well watered all year. Young plants keep undivided juvenile leaves for about four to five years and appreciate some shade during that time. It performs poorly in exposed coastal sites.

Why Palmpedia: Greenhouse-grown by us in Almeirim, Portugal, and supplied in 15 L to 35 L pots.