Areca triandra

Areca triandra is a clumping palm rather than a single trunk, sending up a sheaf of slender green canes ringed like bamboo, each carrying glossy arching pinnate fronds. The distinctive part is the scent: the small cream flowers held among the canes are genuinely fragrant, and they are followed by fruit that turns red then black. It is an understorey plant by nature, which is why it is used for shaded tropical courtyards, narrow side gardens and large pots where a single trunk palm would look stranded.

Filtered light and steady summer moisture

Warm coastal and subtropical gardens suit it, and further south it wants a sheltered courtyard microclimate, because frost damages the canes. The light spec runs from part shade to full sun, and both ends are true, but the colour is better at the shaded end. In filtered light under taller trees or between buildings the fronds hold a deep glossy green; in open sun through a hot dry summer they go pale. Soil should be rich, mulched and free draining, kept moist through the warm months, with water moderate and more regular in summer. Growth is slow, so buy the size you want to look at rather than waiting for a small clump to fill in. Space clumps so the outer canes just meet if you are running a screen. The failure mode here is hot dry wind. Low humidity and moving air shred and brown the leaflets faster than any pest will, and the damage stays on the frond until that frond is cut out, so a spot in the lee of a wall or fence is worth more than any amount of feeding.

Where it beats a golden cane look alike

Buyers usually arrive here after a golden cane went thin and yellow in a shaded courtyard. Areca triandra is the palm for that spot, holding colour in shade where most feather palms will not. If the same position needs more height and a see through trunk line, cabada palm is the taller clumping alternative, though it wants brighter conditions. For a dark corner that is smaller again, and for genuinely low interior light, bamboo palm takes over. Choose Areca triandra when you want a soft, fragrant, mid height clump in shade. The fragrance is worth siting for, so put it beside a door, a window or an outdoor seat rather than at the back of a bed, since the flowers are small and easy to walk past without noticing.

Thinning the clump, feeding the canes

Cut the oldest canes out at ground level every year or two once the clump thickens, taking them right down rather than shortening them; a topped cane never grows a new tip and stays as a stump. That thinning is what keeps the ringed stems visible instead of letting the clump close into a thicket. Remove browned fronds at the base of the leaf stalk. Feed in spring and midsummer with a palm fertiliser containing magnesium and potassium, keep a thick organic mulch over the root zone, and pull mulch back off the cane bases. See more of the range in palm trees.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 4 sizes, from 200mm up to 500mm, priced from $29.95 to $549.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.