'peacock Feather' Palm

[simon43]

I want to plant some screening plants at my Phuket hotel. The plant that I'm after is a palm (I think), and it has leaves that fan out just like a peacock's feathers. The leaves can be coaxed into growing in a single plane (ie as opposed to a bushy plant). They are often seen in hotel gardens to create a screen and attractive feature.

Does anyone know the proper name of this plant and advise about what soil they like, how fast they grow etc?

Thanks

Simon

[TBWG]

I want to plant some screening plants at my Phuket hotel. The plant that I'm after is a palm (I think), and it has leaves that fan out just like a peacock's feathers. The leaves can be coaxed into growing in a single plane (ie as opposed to a bushy plant). They are often seen in hotel gardens to create a screen and attractive feature.

Does anyone know the proper name of this plant and advise about what soil they like, how fast they grow etc?

Thanks

Simon

Hi Simon

The palm you are talking about is the travellers palm and is the iconic symbol of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. It is also known as the East - West palm as it is said to orientate itself automatically in an E-W direction.

I believe it is a member of the banana family so grows fairly quickly, but a search of web will confirm.

TBWG

[PennyFarthing123]

I want to plant some screening plants at my Phuket hotel. The plant that I'm after is a palm (I think), and it has leaves that fan out just like a peacock's feathers. The leaves can be coaxed into growing in a single plane (ie as opposed to a bushy plant). They are often seen in hotel gardens to create a screen and attractive feature.

Does anyone know the proper name of this plant and advise about what soil they like, how fast they grow etc?

Thanks

Simon

Hi Simon

The palm you are talking about is the travellers palm and is the iconic symbol of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. It is also known as the East - West palm as it is said to orientate itself automatically in an E-W direction.

I believe it is a member of the banana family so grows fairly quickly, but a search of web will confirm.

TBWG

There are actually 2 plants that are very similar. One is the Traveler Palm (which is not actually a palm) that has already been mentioned. The other is the Strelitzia Nicolai (Bird of Paradise Tree) Not to be confused with the Strelitzia Reginae (bird of paradise plant) The Bird of Paradise Tree has a bloom similar to the plant, but it is white and blue rather than the vibrant orange.

[GungaDin]

Take your pic of these palm photos

http://www.junglemusic.net/palmgallery.htm

http://www.thaipalms.com/encyclopedia.html

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/archive.shtml

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/pictures.shtml

[sbk]

The Travellers Palm belongs to the same family as the Bird of Paradise and is called Ravenala madagascariensis, and while I have heard other people say theirs did not orient east-west, mine did. so, now its growing at a weird angle to the building I planted it next to

But, still, all in all, a gorgeous tree and one of my favorite plants

[teletiger]

Lovely palm there sbk. Has it flowered yet?

My neighbour has 2, either side of his gate. Flowered last year. Bird of paradise on steroids. Huge.

Bought 1 last year, (baby) to cover up our ugly water tank. Didn't know about the East/West thing. Planted it North/South, not moved yet

Regards.

[sbk]

No Nor has it produced any suckers either

Mine took a few years to shift, its a slow process as it grows. I bought mine about 8 years ago and it was probably about 2 feet high at the time.