The Bottle Palm Tree, scientific name Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, is one of the most desired palms. Many consider bottle palm to be a dwarf palm. This palm is easy to grow and maintain. It got its name from bottle-shaped trunk. It is great for indoors or small outside garden.

Bottle Palm Tree Info

Scientific name: Hyophorbe lagenicaulis

Common names: Bottle Palm

Family: Arecaceae

Origin: The Bottle Palm Tree is native to the Mascarene Islands, which are in the Indian Ocean just East of Madagascar.

Appearance: Hyophorbe lagenicaulis has a single, trunk, about 2ft in diameter with ring scars and a green crownshaft at the top. The gray, self-cleaning trunk is bottle-shaped, hence the name Bottle Palm. The Bottle Palm has a small crown of 4 to 8 pinnate, or feather-like, leaves that can grow up to 10ft. It has 140 leaflets arranged in two upward-pointing rows which grow to about 2ft long.

Flowers/Fruits: The Bottle Palm produces beautiful white flowers that are held by 30 in. stalks coming from below the crownshaft. Flowers are monoecious, male and female flowers on the same inflorescence. Flowers are followed by green-black berry-like fruits that turn black when ripe. Oval-shaped fruit is around 1.5 inches long and contains a single seed inside.

Growth Rate: Slow. This is a slow-growing palm that can get up to 10 – 20 ft tall and 10 – 15 ft wide, but usually is much shorter around 10ft.

Outdoor/Indoor Use: Both. This palm can also be grown indoors in a container.

Light Req: This dwarf palm tree does well in a shade or partial shade. It can survive a full sun if provided with plenty of water.

Water Req: It can adapt to different kinds of soil but likes moist, well-drained soil.

Maintenance: Easy to maintain. Apply good quality palm fertilizer that has continuous release formula twice a year during the growing season.