General description

Dypsis lutescens, also known as golden cane palm, areca palm, or butterfly palm, is a plant in the Arecaceae family. It is native to Madagascar.

D. lutescens is a small to medium-sized palm, growing to a height of 6 to 12 meters. It has multiple stems emerging from the base. The leaves are arched, 2-3 m long, and pinnate, with 40-60 pairs of leaflets. It produces offsets, and these can be cut off, when mature enough, as a propagation method.

It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens in tropical and subtropical regions, and elsewhere indoors.

Areca palm trees are commonly referred to as the butterfly palm, and has many other common names. But, the butterfly palm is the most descriptive as to the areca's aesthetics. The leaves curve upwards in multiple stems to create a butterfly look. They are sometimes used as privacy walls or fences. The areca palm is sometimes confused with many other plants in the genus, because of the palm family name, "areca". The areca palm, above all other indoor palm trees, is most commonly found in households.