Areca palm
Dypsis lutescens
Also called Butterfly palm and Golden cane palm
Houseplant · Ferns & palmsThirstier than most palms and touchy about fluoride — rainwater if you can manage it.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Hard
- Water
- Every 6 daysDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Bright indirect
- Feed
- Every 45 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 2 m tall · 1.2 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Madagascar
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsSafe for pets
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Leaflets go dull and finely stippled and webbing appears in the V where two leaflets meet the stalk.Glasshouse red spider mite · pest
- Brown points on every leaflet of the oldest frond at once — fluoride and salts in tap water; the plant is not thirsty.Tip burn · disorder