Majesty Palm Ravenea rivularis

Majesty palm is a solitary Madagascan palm with a trunk that swells noticeably at the base and tapers as it rises, topped by a full crown of long, upright-then-arching fronds. There is no crownshaft, so the leaves emerge straight from the crown, which is the quickest way to tell it from the bangalow it is often mistaken for. In habitat it lines riverbanks and seasonally flooded ground in southern Madagascar, and gardens use it as a large-scale feature palm and avenue tree in warm districts.

Buying a riverbank tree for a suburban block

This is a subtropical to warm temperate palm for frost-free gardens, and cold, dry inland sites scorch it. It likes deep soil with organic matter and copes with heavier ground than most palms because of where it comes from, though it still wants drainage rather than a permanent bog. Shelter from cold dry wind, mulch across the root zone, and keep lawn and its roots away from the base. The failure mode is scale, not culture. Majesty palm is sold in vast numbers as a small pot plant, and buyers site it accordingly, tucking it under an eave, into a narrow courtyard bed or 2 m from a wall. In open ground in a warm climate it becomes a genuinely large tree with a broad, heavy crown, and moving one later is a crane job. Decide from the outset that you are planting a big palm and give it the room it will need.

Majesty against the other large feature palms

Set next to foxtail palm, the contrast is habitat. Foxtail is a plumed, sun-loving palm that wants heat and sharp drainage, while this one comes off riverbanks and handles damper, heavier ground and cooler coastal conditions better. Against Veitchia joannis, the difference is the crownshaft and the litter: the Fijian palm is self-cleaning with a clean green crownshaft, while majesty palm keeps its old fronds until someone removes them. Choose majesty where the ground is heavier and the district cooler, and one of the others where the site is hot and sharply drained. Anyone cross-shopping on looks alone should check the trunk as well, since the swollen base and the absence of a crownshaft are the giveaways when stock has been labelled as something else. Specimen stock sits in the 200L and above range.

Removing spent fronds and feeding a hungry palm

Cut fronds off only once they have gone completely brown, taking them close to the trunk with a clean saw, and do the work in the warm months. Leave anything still partly green, because this palm is a heavy feeder and it recovers nutrients from ageing leaves. The classic sign of neglect is orange-brown flecking spreading through the oldest fronds, a potassium shortage that a palm-specific controlled release fertiliser corrects over a full season rather than in weeks. Feed in early spring and again in mid summer with a product that also carries magnesium, spread across the root zone out to the edge of the crown, and keep the mulch topped up.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 7 sizes, from 200mm up to 400L, priced from $61.95 to $7709.00 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.