PlantFiles: Bottle Palm
Hyophorbe lagenicaulis

We have one that we keep in a pot that is about 5 foot tall. It does well here in Houston in full sun. When the temps start falling below 40 degrees I bring it inside. We kept it three months in the house by a widow with great morning sun for the winter and it grew a new frond. This is one of the most fascinating palms I have seen.

Last summer there were several garden centers selling these palms and a neighbor bought a pretty expensive one and planted it in his front yard. We had two days this year where it hit 27 degrees and it appears his poor bottle palm got fried. Sure wish people would investigate a little more before they buy palms that might not make it in this area.

I planted two of these in zone 8b (Round Rock, TX). One has died (I think one of the kids may have damaged it), the other is doing ok. We'll see if we make it past the 1st freeze. This plant was purchased as a 5G. In our very hot summer (temperatures over 100), we watered this plant 6 times per day until established, then cut back to 2 times per day.

Here it grows very well as of course it is it's native place. Not much left in the nature but thanks not endangered as the amaricaulis. Sold in almost every nusery in Mauritius or even young seedlings can be found at the base of mature plants. Need 4-6 years to trunck and to form it's bottle form. Seeds also very long to germinate in general minimum 2 months to a year or even more.The fruits are green and white dots ( like H. Amaricaulis) at early stage and goes black when ripe, whereas seeds are very hard, ovoid and grey.

I have to give it positive as so far has defied all knowledge! Sowed 5 seed after 5 days soaking in February 2004, placed in dark cupboard next to fireplace with central heating pump. 1 germinated in 30 days a 2nd slightly later. Placed seedlings in heated propogator till warm weather then in semi-shaded greenhouse in May/June. Watered well, grown in mix of leafy compost, gritty river soil, Irish moss peat. Placed in light south facing (sunny window) shed October 04, suffered 2 Nov/Dec frosts to -6C, brought indoors to dull position around 16C, getting some warmth from nearby radiator in day. The 2nd one rotted when watered a little coming back to growth April, but always had a weaker root. Other 3 germinated February 2005. all strong, kept in light shed over summer brought indoors end October. The 1st one is still alive, hasn't grown much and outer leaves slightly browned but stem slightly fatter, so roots may be developing. Stem quickly develops and is very hard but don't be fooled, good drainage/friable compost essential. I remain optimistic in zone 8 UK, cool 2005 summer often less than 20C. The 3 remaining seeds were put in a sunny greenhouse in shaded propogator (unheated) in 2004 hot summer, temps in greenhouse going to 50C, brought in to cupboard as before Oct 04.

I've had a couple bottle palms growing outside in a protected area in Mesa,Arizona for 4 years now.The tallest is 7 ft high with only 6 inches of actual wood before the crownshaft.Contrary to popular belief, they seem to be hardier than the spindle palm of which I've killed 1/2 dozen over the years in the same protected area.

One of my favorite palms. I do not know how it survives here in Kissimmee but there are several left unprotected throughout my subdivision.

This palm survives the coast of southern California, it is less likley to survive inland.

I live in around zone 9b and have a bottle palm growing very well here. I have it outside and it get half day of sun. I live in san bernardino.

There are some tall specimens (around 6m tall) in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. They kinda lose the curious bottle looking when they get taller, but still the are beautiful palms.

This is my favorite palm after, of course, Bismarckia noblis. There is an absolutely stunning one at Edison's house in Ft. Myers. That was the first one i saw and, naturally, had to have one of my own. Thev have classic fronds, similar to those of the adonidia, but with a reddish mid-rib.

This is a great looking palm... for the topics. Can't survive here in So Cal except in the most perfect microclimates. Local palm experts often find one of these perfect little spots in their yards, but usually these palms end up getting nearly defoliated each winter and struggle back by the end of summer just to start the torture all over again. They do pretty well in Miami, though and are common garden palms in Hawaii, and the rest of the tropical world.