Basselinia gracilis

Geoff Stein - Author & Editor

Pronunciation: bass-suh-LIN-ee-uh grah-SILL-us


Common Name:

Basselinia gracilis is a colorful, small, understory palm (at least in California) and probably the easiest of all the Basselinias to grow in California. Many of these New Caledonian palms are fastidious and tricky to grow in California, but Basselinia gracilis has some remarkable cold tolerance as well as adaptability when it comes to soil type. Still, it is not a very easy plant to keep looking good and happy, but in the right microclimates, some growers have gotten this one to grow quite well. Basselinia eriostachys was a synonym, but recently has been raised back up to species status. The two are very similar.

Appearance and Biology
  • Habit: suckering with crowns of 5-7 pinnate leaves
  • Height: 4'-6'
  • Trunk: multiple; 1/2"-3/4" thick; slate grey to purplish with evenly spaced, neat rings; sometimes glaucous near crownshaft
  • Crownshaft: 6" long; dark red with fine, light striations, fading to a yellow near the top; wider than stem; sometimes with dark, purplish areas along one side
  • Spread: 2'-4'+
  • Leaf Description: pinnate; ovoid to lancelote leaflets, widely spaced along rachis; arching; bright green; 2' long; some forms have more fused leaflets to nearly bifid in very high mountain forms
  • Petiole/Leaf bases: 2"-3" long; yellow to yellow-green with dark speckling; with some reddish-orange where leaf bases hug stem, fading rapidly to dark grey-purple below; flat on top and curved below- no channelling
  • Reproduction: monoecious
  • Inflorescence: 1' long, highly branched; yellow base with red branches;
  • Fruit: 1/2"; spherical; light green, turning purple to black when ripe
Horticultural Characteristics
  • Minimum Temp: 30F
  • Drought Tolerance: low
  • Dry Heat Tolerance: low
  • Wind Tolerance: low
  • Salt Tolerance: unknown
  • Growth Rate: very slow to slow
  • Soil Preference: moist and adaptable but prefers soils relatively low in acidity
  • Light Requirement: filtered sun to partial shade near the coast
  • Human Hazards: none
  • Disease or Horticultural Problems: finicky palm and sometimes declines for inapparent reasons
  • Transplants?: fairly good if root ball relatively undisturbed
  • Indoor?: possibly but humidity requirements difficult to provide
  • Availability: rare but often available at palm specialty nurseries, particularly mail order ones


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