Lord Howe Island palms (aka Kentia palms) might be native to only a tiny speck in the South Pacific, just seven miles long and one mile wide, but their incredible beauty and resilience have made them not just one of the most popular houseplants on the planet, but a species that has changed the face of architecture.
Ever since Victorian times, the Lord Howe islanders have climbed the trees to harvest their nuts and export them all over the world for the horticultural trade. While today this is strictly controlled for conservation reasons, wild-collected palm seeds for the houseplant business are still the island’s only real export. Every potted palm you see in garden centres across the world is grown painstakingly from seeds like these, taking years to mature.
Being tolerant of low light and low humidity – characteristics of the average living room – while small and slow-growing enough to suit the scale of most houses, this species’ unique mix of attributes makes it probably the most commonly traded ornamental palm in the world. Queen Victoria loved them so much she had them in all her residences and even left instructions to have these plants on display alongside her coffin at her funeral.
As horticulture has often had a weird classist dimension, this royal association fuelled feverish popularity to the point where fancy hotels on both sides of the Atlantic even created a new architectural feature: The “palm court” – high-ceilinged atriums in which to display these exotic status symbols. Even the Titanic had its own palm court to capitalise on the association with these plants and the height of luxury. To this day, many hotels the world over, no matter how modern, tend to have a lobby with soaring ceilings and mirrored panels – sometimes still with palms – a legacy of this craze. One could argue the palm’s lasting effect on architecture literally changed the way people live their lives.
Growing them is really straightforward. They love bright, but indirect light indoors, and being kept away from draughts and radiators. If you live in a cool-climate country, moving them closer to windows in winter is a good way to give them more even light levels. For warm-climate growers, a top tip is that they are one of the few palms that will handle air conditioning. The plants like to dry out just a little between waterings, as their native habitat has well-drained, sandy soils, so don’t let them sit in water for any period of time. Other than that, you shouldn’t have any problems.
Follow James on Twitter @Botanygeek
