PlantFiles: Cabada Palm
Dypsis cabadae

I bought the Dypsis cabada on sale, 3 gal $5, from Zill High Performance nursery. We moved it up and it grew fast with a small shoot at the base. Just planted 2 next to each other in full sun here in Stuart, Florida. Classy palm that appears to be fast growing.

In my opinion, this plant is a great, if not more beautiful alternative to Dypsis lutescens. This plant definitely looks best when planted in the sun, and has similar cultivation requirements to D. lutescens as well. It is distinctive from lutescens in that it has a much deeper green and white powdery trunk, as well as a powdery white crownshaft. This plant should be used more as a landscape specimen in zone 9b and higher.

After looking at all the different palms I'm sure this is mine too. It is right near the house and is huge. I tend to not know how to prune it so I just cut all the small new growth away.It is beautiful and I'd like to know more about it.

this is one of the first Madagascan palms to become popular in cultivation, but it's exact origins in Madagascar are unknown. It is a classic suckering, ringed, green trunked Dypsis with nice arching leaves, growing to about 25' tall. Some skilled growers have managed to keep this palm alive here in So Cal, but only as a stunted dwarf of it's natural tropical beauty. Interestingly, in more humid climates (like in Florida) many find this and D lutescens similar in their cultural requirements. However, in Southern California that is certainly not the case, as D lutescens does well in zone 9b on up, and this species can barely tolerate zone 10b. It is really a palm for the tropics. As a seedling, which I have had many of, they are exceptionally colorful- having deep green leaves and a chocolate stem, with a hint of maroon here an there. Never had one past the seedling stage, however.