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Howea Forsteriana “Kentia Palm”
Kentia Palm is a statuesque and graceful palm plant with dark green foliage and arching fronds, also known as Howea forsteriana or even Thatch Palm. Often grown as multiple plants in a pot to give bulk. They are best displayed on their own to show off their shape and they need a good amount of space around them. Kentia palms are the palms found in the “Palm Courts” of great hotels and during the heyday of ocean liners. On Lord Howe Island, the palm’s fronds were used as thatch for the huts of whalers who used to visit the island during the hunting season. Kentia palms are slow growing plants and rarely grow beyond their juvenile form to grow a proper trunk indoors.
KEY FACTS
Pronunciation
(“HOW-ee-ah for-steh-ree-AH-nah”)
Common name
N/A
Origin
Lord Howe Island (a tiny island, 320 miles off the East coast of Australia). This is the only place on Earth where these plants grow in the wild, and all Kentia palms in cultivation are grown from seedlings started from wild-collected seeds on the island under the strict control of the Lord Howe Island Nursery. Every plant is unique and originated on the island. The species was first introduced to Europe in 1772 by the Forsters – father and son botanists from Germany who travelled as part of Captain Cook’s second voyage to the islands of the Pacific.
Light
Watering
Pruning
Feeding
Pest & Diseases
