PlantFiles: Bamboo Palm, Reed Palm, Seifriz's Bamboo Palm
Chamaedorea seifrizii

Survived the Central Florida freezes this past winter without showing a single sign that they even knew it was in the 20s. Even 7 year Chrysalidocarpus lutescens nearby froze completely to the ground. The abundant seedlings were not aware of the cold. While they arent picky about pretty much anything, their year round growth makes hygiene a constant concern, not to mention that they are the strongest mealybug attractors that I have.

This palm is listed as a Category II Invasive Exotic by the state of Florida. Does that tell you how easy it is to grow? It is being watched to see if the escapees are altering natural habitats.

Very common Chamaedorea, probably one of the most common in cultivation and the nursery trade. This species is also commonly used as an indoor palm and it does quite well as one. Just watch for mealy bugs. It is a suckering palm with bamboo-like stems. THe stems sucker below ground and tend to be straight up out of the ground, making it different from a lot of other Chamaedorea suckering species which either have curved stems or sucker above ground. This species is also highly variable either having fine, feather lealets with lancelote leaves, to having ovoid, wide leaflets- so different you would never know the two were the same species. The wide leaf form is the one called Chamaedorea erumpens. Variegated forms of this species are not uncommon, either. It does well outdoors in most Southern California climates, except the desert ones, and I have seen it do well as an outdoor plant in the southern half of Florida. Easy to grow, takes drought pretty well, and handles low light well, though there are Chamaedorea which perform much better in low light.