SCIENTIFIC NAME: Chamaedorea microspadix

COMMON NAME(S): Hardy bamboo palm
SUB FAMILY: Ceroxyloideae
TRIBE: Hyophorbeae
ORIGIN: Mexico
HARDINESS ZONES: 9-11 (damaged but recovered at 20 degrees F)
TYPICAL MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 8'
GROWTH RATE: Moderate
HABIT: Clustering, stems sometimes widely separated, each bearing 4-8 leaves
SALT TOLERANCE: Low
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: Moderate
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Widely adaptable
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Low; moderate
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS: Moderate
POPULAR USES: Shrub; specimen plant; screen
HUMAN HAZARDS: Fruit mildly irritating
POPULAR OR RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS: None

COMMENTS: Hardy bamboo palm, like C. radicalis, extends the outdoor utility of the genus Chamaedorea to areas where freezing temperatures are experienced in the winter. With some protection, plants have reportedly withstood temperatures below 20 degrees F with little or no damage. Certainly the hardiest reed-stem chamaedorea currently enjoying wide cultivation, C. microspadix superficially resembles the tender bamboo palms such as C. seifrizii and C. erumpens, but can be distinguished by the distance often observed between stems in the cluster and the fewer leaflets. Hardy bamboo palm makes a fine specimen plant in part shade, and can also be used as a coarse screening plant. It is equally at home in the interior, and is one of the more mite-resistant species of Chamaedorea.