Pronunciation: kam-h-DORE-ee-uh uh-MAH-buh-liss
Common Name: none
Chamaedorea amabilis is a beautiful but very rare and marginal understory palm for California. It has a very thin, bamboo-like stem with parallel sided, bifid, ridged leaves that have amazing symmetry. A well grown palm is striking, but sadly many palms tends to brown tip or look ratty if exposed to winds or dry air.
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Appearance and Biology
- Habit: solitary with a crown of 3-5 bifid leaves
- Height: 6' if supported (stems cannot support even the weight of 3 leaves if over 3'-4' high, and fall over)
- Trunk: single; 3/8" thick; deep green, ringed like bamboo, but often bending and draping over surrounding vegetation once gets tall
- Crownshaft: 3"
- Spread: 16"
- Leaf Description: pinnate/bifid; bright green; 1' long; sides of leaves parallel and serrated; deeply ridged surface
- Petiole/Leaf bases: 4" long; unarmed; light to medium green
- Reproduction: dioecious
- Inflorescence: 6" long; minimally or unbranched
- Fruit: spherical; 1/3"; shiny black when ripe
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Horticultural Characteristics
- Minimum Temp: 30F
- Drought Tolerance: low
- Dry Heat Tolerance: low
- Wind Tolerance: very low
- Salt Tolerance: unknown
- Growth Rate: very slow
- Soil Preference: moist, well draining and acidic
- Light Requirement: shade to filtered light
- Human Hazards: none
- Disease or Horticultural Problems: dry tipping if exposed to winds or poor water quality (lots of salts)
- Transplants?: fairly tolerant
- Indoor?: hard to keep humid enough, but survives indoors
- Availability: very rare
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