PlantFiles: Actinokentia
Actinokentia divaricata

Man, I'm glad I didn't plant my seedling in the ground after reading palmbob's story. Mine has been in my unheated greenhouse for about one year (ordered a bareroot 1 gallon size from Hawaii), and it has grown 3 new leaves in that time. It insists on having exactly 4 leaves at all times; within days of a new leaf opening the oldest one turns brown. The new leaves still open up green, but I'm hoping for more red as it matures. Already has a nice purple color to the crownshaft.

This is an attractive dainty palm from New Caledonia that has surprising hardiness considering its tropical origins. It is a decent indoor plant as well as a good outdoor palm for small, shady So Cal gardens. As it matures, the new leaves come out strikingly red. This palm has a very narrow trunk and long slightly purplish crownshaft, below which flowers continually open year round (at least in a tropical climate- no one has seen that yet in so Cal because there are no mature plants here). ONe draw back- it is an INCREDIBLY slow grower. I have a seedling in the ground now in my old garden that was planted in 1995 as a three leave seedling and it has maybe put out 6 leaves in the last 8, almost 9 years and doesn't look a whole lot bigger than at planting. Many palms grow slow in So Cal, but any growing that slow usually die in 1-2 years from bud rot or something. Not this hardy little palm. So, if you are interested in getting one, order the largest one you can get from Hawaii, where they grow considerably faster.