SCIENTIFIC NAME: Livistona australis

COMMON NAME(S): Australian fan palm
SUB FAMILY: Coryphoideae
TRIBE: Corypheae
ORIGIN: Australia
HARDINESS ZONES: 9-11 (no problem at 24 degrees F)
TYPICAL MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 40'
GROWTH RATE: Slow
HABIT: Solitary, robust, canopy of 30-50 leaves
SALT TOLERANCE: Moderate
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: High
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Widely adaptable
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Moderate; high
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS: Moderate
POPULAR USES: Specimen tree
HUMAN HAZARDS: Spiny (chiefly when young)
POPULAR OR RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS: None

COMMENTS: After Chinese fan palm, Australian fan palm is probably the hardiest Livistona species in wide cultivation. It grows considerably taller than Chinese fan palm, however, and can easily be distinguished from that species by its conspicuously ridged trunk. It also does not appear to be susceptible to lethal yellowing. Early Australian settlers harvested the heart for cabbage, fashioned hats and baskets from the leaves and utilized the trunks for light construction. Aborigines made fishing lines and nets from leaf fiber, used the leaves for roofing and pieces of the outer trunk to make spear heads. Australian fan palm is one of the most carefree species in the genus and adapts well to a wide variety of soil types. Young plants are particularly attractive and function well as indoor foliage.