Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Pig Nut Palm, syn. Hyophorbe revaughnii

Description:

A very attractive palm for a small landscape that is highly ornamental; bottle shaped trunk is gray and smooth with up to eight branches gracefully arching from the top; great indoors as well

Ornamental Features

Bottle Palm has masses of beautiful panicles of white flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. It has attractive green evergreen foliage. The narrow palmate leaves are highly ornamental and remain green throughout the winter. It produces black nuts in mid fall.

Landscape Attributes

Bottle Palm is an evergreen tree with a strong central leader and a towering form, with a high canopy of foliage concentrated at the top of the plant. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Bottle Palm is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Vertical Accent
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Bottle Palm will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It has a high canopy of foliage that sits well above the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.

Bottle Palm is a fine choice for the yard, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.