PlantFiles: Fishtail Palm, Clustered Fishtail Palm
Caryota mitis

Easy to fall in love with this palm, great specimen plant. Have one sitting by itself in a grassy area, the clustering habit allows it to be unsupported by additional landscaping nor groundcover...grass grows up to leaf drop off and no weeds grow near. Have taking two root growth cuttings and successfully potted...have not planted either but will update once they're established in the ground. Tons of seeds, hopefully not sterile.

We bought a fixer-upper here a year ago. The yard has lots of mature fishtail palms as well as coconut palms, hibiscus, mahogany trees, bougainvilla, and plumeria. I love the berries hanging on the fishtails. The palms are very healthy; we have to keep pruning them to keep them from hanging over the pool.

The Key deer love the fishtail palm fronds; they keep them from growing through the fence! I've never had any reaction to handling the fronds; the berries are just now maturing and I now know not to touch them!

I have this plant in Duluth, GA as a houseplant. It's been in my house for six years now. I usually don't have much luck with palms as houseplants but this is one that is easy to grow. Mine is about 8 feet tall now and very green and healthy. I'm just worried that it will continue to grow and not fit in my husband's office anymore. If it does, I will transfer it to my master bathroom which has a cathedral ceiling. I love that I can have a tropical look even in Georgia. I think this palm thrives on neglect because it requires minimal care and still grows beautifully. Mine is growing next to a window which faces south.

Unlike many palms, the fishtail definitely prefers shade or semi-shade. Our landscape architect designed ours to be planted in full sun by our pool. One year later, it is not nearly as full and dark green as it was at the nursery. It has turned pale, with brown tips.

I'm not sure what kind of fertilizer our landscaper is using, but I suspect it also may be in need of the special nutrients another member suggested below. Although, our foxtails are looking yellow, too.

On the upside... It is a large, gorgeous tropical that does an excellent job of adding privacy around our hot tub. Other than the berries that drop, it is basically maintenance free.

On the downside: Raccoons seem to love eating the "toxic" berries and then depositing them back in our pool. :(

I planted one in my yard about 3 years ago. I am moving and renting my place...am interested in taking my palm with me. I have read that it may get stressed, flower and die...in which case I'd rather leave it. Any suggestions? I have 5 clusters and it approx. 12-15 ft tall.

Dispite the negatve remarks, this is a beautiful and fast growing Palm in South FL. Hurricane Charley took most of the clump down to the ground, but now it's back with an incredible recovery. Requires no special attention at all.

In southern California maybe it is best to plant them in dappled shade. Full low humidity sun is too much for them.

It survives in my yard without much care or maintenance. I never water it either. Wear gloves to trim dead fronds and remove seeds. It's a beautiful tropical plant.

This has been a great indoor plant for me. Growing in a large pot and sitting by a west facing window. I water every 2 weeks or so and that seems to be enough. I find it very low maint. I've had this plant for about 1.5 years.

These palm are usualy devoid of nitrogen manganese and potassium in Southern CAlifornia. So if oyu want a green one fertilize it a lot more than you would with other palms.

I tasted that oxalate today... I like fishtails and all, but... let´s just... put a negative here... yuck

This is a relatively commonly sold palm in the southern US, but it is not really one of the more ornamental of the Caryotas. It is one of the few suckering species, which helps to prolong its life- being monocarpic most Caryotas only live 10-30 years, but this one will keep suckering as other stems flower and die. This species is one of the less hardy ones, and doesn't look good in marginal climates. South Florida and Hawaii are about the only climates in the US this palm looks good in... though it does passably indoors. Not too many growers of this species in California would describe it as a nice looking tree.

Like all Caryotas, the seeds are very irritating (oxylates) and it is recommended to not touch the fruits with bare hands.

Note that the majority of clustering Caryotas sold in nurseries (usually as indoor plants) in the US are NOT this species, but are clumps of a solitary species (most likely C urens or maxima)...