Discover 10 Types of Palm Trees in Hawai’i

It’s almost impossible to build a mental image of the Hawai’ian islands without picturing a single palm tree. After all, palms go hand-in-hand with the tropics like sand and beaches. But did you know that the vast majority of palm trees in Hawai’i didn’t originally evolve there? Most of the palm species living in the island chain today came there recently from somewhere else in the world.

While some common, widespread palms tend to be relatively meek landscape plants, others have spread beyond cultivation and are naturalizing far and wide. Several more species are endemic to the islands and grow nowhere else in the world, facing endangerment from multiple angles. In this article, we’ll take a brief look at 10 types of palms that show up across the Hawai’ian islands, both in the wild and in cultivation.

1. Loulu Palms (Pritchardia sp.)

While you can find a wide variety of palm species in Hawai’i today, only those belonging to the genus Pritchardia are native to the islands. The genus comprises 28 distinct species, the vast majority of which are endemic to one island each. Out of all the species of loulu palms, only six species appear on more than one island, and only four appear outside of the Hawai’ian Islands altogether.

Loulu palms are quite diverse, taking on different shapes and sizes depending on the type of environment they grow in. Some, like Pritchardia minor, are relatively short with wide crowns, while the lanky Pritchardia schattaueri can stretch to heights of nearly 130 feet! While the characters of different species can vary quite a bit, they do have some uniting traits. By and large, loulu palms have large, deeply pleated, fan-like fronds and produce impressive flowers. Depending on the species, an inflorescence can measure as long as 10 feet in length and contain hundreds of flowers. As the flowers fade, they give way to shiny, black, spherical fruits.

Today, due to the expansion of towns and cities on the islands and the introduction of foreign herbivores, many of these palms are critically endangered. Several foreign palm species are displacing the loulu palms in their natural habitats, and livestock animals quickly decimate young plants. In particular, the introduction of Polynesian rats and wild pigs severely inhibits the loulu palms’ ability to reseed, as they eat the fruits in large quantities. Conservation efforts are continually underway to safeguard the palms’ critical habitats and protect them and other endemic plants and animals from extinction.

2. Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera)

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a staple tree along Hawai’ian shorelines today, but did you know that it didn’t originate there? Humans from all over the world have used the coconut palm extensively as a source of wood, food, and fiber for thousands of years. Polynesian travelers introduced the species to the island chain and the Hawai’ian people many hundreds of years ago. Since then, the species has taken well to the fertile soil, ideal weather, and of course intentional cultivation.

Coconut palms are impressive plants, able to grow to heights greater than 100 feet and achieve lifespans of 60–100 years! The trees are easy to identify by their incredibly tall, often arching trunks, pinnate crowns, and, of course, their coconuts. Coconut palms reach fruit-bearing age in their first decade, usually between the ages 3 and 10, and can produce nearly 100 coconuts each year once they reach peak production age.

3. Pigafetta Palm (Pigafetta elata)

The pigafetta palm is famous for its incredibly fast growth rate. It is one of two species in its genus, both of which are among the fastest-growing palms in the world. P. elata and its cousin P. filaris can grow anywhere from 3 to 6 feet in a single year! The species is native to New Guinea and Indonesia but pops up occasionally as a landscape cultivar in the Hawai’ian Islands.

Pigafetta are solitary palms, producing green trunks that can carry their hemispherical leaf crowns to heights of over 100 feet. The species bears beautifully textured, spiny, pinnate fronds, each of which can grow to nearly 20 feet in length. In its native range, the species is an early colonizer of disturbed environments, lava flows, riverbanks, and forest edges. Because of their rapid growth rate and ability to grow in disturbed environments, the species is undergoing domestication as a timber crop.

4. Chinese Fan Palm (Livistona chinensis)

The Chinese fan palm is a popular landscaping tree that commonly makes appearances along streets and parks. At maturity, most Chinese fan palms reach about 30 feet in height and produce crowns spreading as wide as 12 feet across. They are also commonly known as fountain palms, referencing the long, drooping leaf tips and the cascading effect they produce. Although they are quite striking in the landscape, Chinese fan palms in Hawai’i are generally considered invasive and displace endemic plant species.
Chinese fan palms are slow-growing and often do not begin to form trunks until several years into their lives. Mistaking them for low-growing species, many homeowners and landscapers will plant them in tight groupings to provide visual interest and privacy screening. Though this may prove effective for several years, the plants eventually outgrow their spacing and require thinning or even complete removal.

5. Cuban Royal Palm (Roystonea regia)

Native to Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and parts of Central America, the Cuban royal palm also appears today throughout the Hawai’ian Islands. Humans have transported the species far and wide in recent decades, primarily for use as a landscape ornamental. These stately palms produce stout trunks and robust crowns of thick, sturdy fronds which people across the world’s tropics use for construction materials.

Like the Chinese fan palm, Cuban royal palms are considered invasive in Hawai’i. The trees produce plentiful fruits that serve as a food source for birds, who spread the seeds far and wide. The seeds themselves are unappealing to animals that might eat them, as they contain defensive, irritating calcium oxalate crystals. Though the palms grow only at moderate rates, they are quite versatile and develop strong root systems that allow them to naturalize easily in new environments.

6. Bismarck Palm (Bismarckia nobilis)

The Bismarck palm, named after Otto von Bismarck, is becoming one of the more common landscaping palm trees in Hawai’i. This exotic palm species, which originated in Madagascar, produces an incredibly thick trunk and boasts a crown of striking, silver-blue, palmate fronds. Each one emerges from the crown on a long, sturdy petiole and can grow up to 4 feet in diameter. Individual fronds, including their petioles, can measure 8 to 10 feet long! Because of its impressive size and unique coloration, the Bismarck palm is often used as a focal point in the landscape.

7. Silver Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris)

Native to the Indian Subcontinent, the silver date palm is increasing in popularity throughout the world’s tropics and subtropics as a food and landscape plant. The species produces long, attractive, pinnate fronds that can grow to 10 feet in length, forming crows up to 30 feet wide when mature. As the fronds die back, they leave behind stub ends that give the trunk a unique texture.

In its native range, people use the silver date palm for its plentiful fruits and sweet sap. Either one makes for a delicious drink, fresh or fermented, and the prolific fruits produce sweet jams and jellies.

8. Ālula (Brighamia insignis)

Though the Vulcan palm, also known as Ālula or ʻŌlulu in Hawai’ian, isn’t a true palm, it has similar growth habits and people often mistake it for one. This species actually belongs to the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, and is a fairly long-lived perennial shrub. Its bulbous, succulent stem can raise its small rosette of leaves as high as 16 feet above the ground. It produces clusters of odd, yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers with a scent reminiscent of honeysuckle.

The species is virtually non-existent in the wild today, as its pollinating specialist insect has presumably gone extinct. Ālula once grew on the Napali Coast and Ha’upu Ridge in Kaua’i, as well as on Ni’ihau, but has since declined drastically. Without its hawk-moth partner, B. insignis is unable to reproduce on its own. Though the species likely no longer reproduce in the wild, it shows up frequently in the house plant trade, as it is easy to manually pollinate and propagate by seed.

9. Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens)

One of the more common landscaping palms in Hawai’i, the areca palm is near threatened in its native range in Madagascar. Also known as the golden cane palm, the plant produces bright, yellow-green leaves and golden petioles from a series of narrow, arching stems. Each palm produces several jointed, cane-like stems from a single base, giving it the resemblance of a clumping bamboo.

They are often planted in groves In the summer, they produce long clusters of yellow flowers that eventually give way to many tiny fruits. Although they start out a bright golden-yellow color, the fruits eventually become deep purple or black as they ripen. The species grows quickly, up to 30″ per year when conditions are favorable, and is tolerant of partial shade. Though it grows best outdoors, it is popular across the world’s more temperate regions as an indoor plant.

10. Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis)

The bottle palm is a slow-growing species of palm tree that is native to Round Island to the east of Madagascar. These palms tend to thrive in many parts of Hawai’i, where the fertile but well-draining volcanic soil and tropical climate closely match those of their native range. Though they may reach heights of 15 feet at maturity, they often take many decades to do so. When they are young, these palms have a unique, bottle-shaped trunk from which they derive their common name. As they age, they tend to lose this feature.

Unfortunately, wild bottle palms are nearly extinct. Due to climate change and human encroachment, they have lost nearly all of their natural habitat on Round Island. Though they proliferate worldwide in gardens and as houseplants, wild bottle palms are destined to die out.