Archontophoenix Species, Mount Lewis King Palm, Purple King Palm, Purple Piccabean Palm

I have four of these King palms, two potted and two in the ground. The two planted in the ground took temps down to around 28 degrees for...Read More several hours this past winter. I wrapped both with blankets, but provided no heat. Both faired very well with little damage. Several other more cold sensitive Palms in my yard died. Growth I have seen is pretty rapid. They seem to do well here.

Great form of King Palm, but is the least sun tolerant of the species, at least in the more inland areas of Southern Calfornia. As it ma...Read Moretures, it does better in the sun. It is absolutely gorgeous in the tropics where the crownshaft is a gorgeous light violet-grey. In California the trunk color is sometimes a bit disappointly less than purple... sort of an off-green to brown. But sometimes one will show a nice lavendar crownshaft and not sure why some do and some don't.

As a seedling this is a pretty robust plant, compared to the more common king palm. Leaves have a whitish underside and trunks are more markedly ringed. However it is a bit slower growing and maybe less tolerant of drought. None of the ARchontophoenix species move well, especially as older plants. Plant this one where you want it to stay forever.