25 Types of Palm Trees You Can Grow Indoors

Parlor Palm

This attractive palm (Chamaedorea elegans) is beloved for its compact, clumping growth habit that resembles a bamboo forest. Cultivated as a houseplant for 50 years, it's perhaps the most popular indoor palm.

Slow growing and generally easy to take care of, the parlor palm can grow 12 feet tall in its natural habitat, but indoors it tends to reach between 2 and 6 feet. It tolerates low light conditions but compensates with slower growth.

Areca Palm

Also known as the butterfly or bamboo palm (Dypsis lutescens), this one provides a lovely focal point in a large room due to its grand size. Often available in garden centers at around 5 feet tall, these palms are a great choice for those looking for an indoor tree-type plant.

The areca palm (pronounced ah-REE-kah) can grow up to 8 feet tall as long as it gets bright, indirect sunlight, but can tolerate medium-light areas. It's sensitive to overwatering, so let the soil dry out before watering.

Pygmy Date Palm

Unlike its cousins that can reach heights of 75 feet in their natural habitat, this palm (Phoenix roebelenii) is a dwarf species native to southern China. This palm-of-many-names is also known as the miniature date palm, dwarf date palm, pygmy date palm, miniature date palm, and robellini palm.

The pygmy date palm generally grows to 3- to 5- feet tall indoors. It features narrow, feathery leaves in glossy green, silvery-green, or dark green. If set outside in the summer, this drought-tolerant palm can handle light frosts but not a hard freeze.

Chinese Fan Palm

This one, also known as the fountain palm (Livistona chinensis), features star-shaped leaves instead of classical feathery ones. It grows best in bright, indirect light and tolerates some shade.

With the potential to grow to 15 feet tall, the Chinese fan palm makes a lovely addition to large spaces. For smaller spaces, look for smaller cultivars such as the dwarf Chinese fan palm and Taiwan fan palm.

Majesty Palm

This large palm (Ravenea rivularis) features upward-arching, feathery fronds, and a slightly swollen trunk base. Unlike most drought-tolerant palms, this one is native to wet areas in Madagascar, so it prefers its prefers soil to stay moist (but not waterlogged).

Relatively fast-growing, a mature majesty palm can reach 15 feet. It thrives in bright, indirect light but tolerates some shade.

Cascade Palm

This clumping palm (Chamaedorea cataractarum) has a short trunk, shrubby growth habit, and dark green fronds. It can reach up to 6 feet tall but grows shorter when planted in a smaller container. Native to the wet lowlands of Central America, it needs consistently moist—but not soggy—soil and prefers bright, indirect light.

Ponytail Palm

If you want the look of a palm that doesn't get huge and has the least amount of maintenance, this (Beaucarnea recurvata) is the perfect fit. Its attractive foliage sprouts from a bulbous trunk to resemble a perky ponytail. Despite its palm-like look, it's technically not a true palm, but a member of the Asparagaceae family.

The ponytail palm's sturdy trunk helps it reserve water, making it quite drought-tolerant. It thrives in bright, indirect light and doesn't mind staying pot-bound. Its relatively short stature makes it a great candidate for display on a plant stand.

Sago Palm

This plant (Cycas revoluta), native to southern Japan, is another palm imposter often grouped with palms. It features stiff fronds that grow from an upright, pineapple-looking trunk.

The slow-growing sago palm reaches 3 feet tall. It prefers regular, consistent moisture and bright, indirect sunlight, but can tolerate some shade.

Yucca Palm

This palm (Yucca elephantipes) is the most tree-like among palm houseplants. It features thick cane stems with sword-shaped foliage.

Grown indoors, the yucca can grow to 5 feet tall. It's very drought tolerant and grows in full sun or part shade.

Kentia Palm

If you're looking for a plant to set and forget, this palm (Howea forsteriana) is for you. Once established, it requires very little care, making it one of the most low-maintenance and easy-to-grow tropical plants.

The slow-growing Kentia palm tolerates a wide range of conditions: It's shade tolerant, cold tolerant, and won't outgrow most spaces. It's typically sold in pots of three or more plants to give it a bushy appearance.

Banana Palm

The banana palm makes a great houseplant provided you can offer it plenty of sunlight and moisture. It needs a bright room in winter and full sun outside in summer, as well as plenty of humidity and moist soil.

Outdoors, banana plants grow up to 20 feet high. Indoors some varieties reach 10 feet but there are dwarf varieties that may suit your space better. The Dwarf Cavendish (Tropicana) grows to about 8 feet and the Dwarf Red reaches 6 feet.

If you're looking forward to eating home-grown bananas in the near future, you may be disappointed. Not all varieties bear fruit and, for the ones that do, it can take up to 120 days (from the formation of a flower) for a mature banana.

Fishtail Palm

This palm (Caryota mitis), named for the distinctive shape of its broad leaves, is one of the more difficult palms to keep alive, particularly indoors. To look their best, they require lots of light, consistent watering, and high humidity. These fast-growing palms are well-suited to foyers and atriums, where they can grow 6 to 10 feet high.

Ivory Cane Palm

Elegant and easy to care for, this less-popular palm (Pinanga coronata) is named for its slender, cream-colored, clustered trunk that resembles a bamboo cane. It prefers bright, indirect light and moist, well-draining soil, and grows to 12 feet tall. New leaves often emerge in a pink-colored hue and then mature to green.

Sunset Palm

This shade-loving New Guinea native (Calyptrocalyx albertisianus) shuns direct sunlight but requires consistently moist soil and lots of spritzing to keep it happy. A spacious, oft-frequented bathroom with indirect light would be the perfect spot for one.

The sunset palm's name refers to its colorful new leaf growth, which emerges bright red and then turns green as it matures. Each of those leaves can grow up to 10 feet long outside, but you can trim them to make this palm fit in your bathroom.

Lipstick Palm

The intriguing name of this palm (Cyrtostachys renda) refers to its green trunk that leads up to a red crownshaft where new leaves emerge. It loves high humidity, so frequent misting is key for keeping this palm healthy, as is regular watering. Healthy plants produce white flowers followed by black, inedible, oval-shaped fruit.

Manila Palm

The green fruit of this plant (Veitchia merrillii) turns scarlet in December, which explains why it's also known as the Christmas palm. Despite that wintery moniker, this upright-growing tree is highly cold-sensitive.

Manila palms have small root balls, which make them ideal for growing in containers. If you prefer not to deal with its messy-yet-colorful fruit dropping on your floor, trim the flowering stems before the fruit gets a chance to form.

Lady Palm

For a low-maintenance palm tree, you can hardly do better than this (Rhapis excelsa). It doesn't need much trimming or elaborate care, just a spot with indirect light and an occasion mist.

Unlike most palms, the lady palm was cultivated in China specifically as an indoor plant, and isn't really found "in the wild". A variegated version sports white stripes on its green leaves that contrast more intensely with more shade.

Red Feather Palm

This aptly named tree (Chambeyronia macrocarpa), also called the flamethrower palm, sprouts vivid red leaves that turn green as they mature. Those giant leaves can reach 12 feet in length, so you need plenty of space to display this one in your home. It also needs plenty of attention: It craves high humidity and frequent watering.

Ruffled Fan Palm

This palm (Licuala grandis) brings the drama with huge circular leaves that look like a folded fan. Native to Australia, they grow to 6 feet high indoors, and can span 10 feet wide.

If you leave a ruffled fan palm outdoors in summer, make sure it's in a protected spot because its gigantic leaves are subject to wind and storm damage. This plant bears berry-like red fruit that's toxic to us, but bats and birds seem to love it.

Pindo Palm

The Pindo palm (Butia capitata) is sometimes called the jelly palm because it produces berries that are used to make tasty jelly! If you're looking for a hardy plant, this one's for you. It can withstand a broad range of temperatures—from scorching hot up to nearly freezing cold. If left to its own devices, and properly cared for, it can grow up to 20 feet.

Canary Island Date Palm

Sometimes also called the pineapple palm thanks to the fruit-like trunk, this palm (Phoenix canariensis) is ideal for anyone who wants something low maintenance. While it can handle most environments, including shady ones, it prefers full sun and well-drained soil. It's a slow-growing plant so you don't need to tend to it too frequently.

Coconut Palm

This version of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is more of a novelty item than anything else—the palm tree sprouts right out of the coconut seed! If transplanted outdoors, you might actually get a tree that bears fruit. Indoors, it requires a of sun, water, and humidity to thrive.

Sylvester Date Palm

This palm (Phoenix sylvestris) is native to parts of Asia, and surprisingly, are drought-resistant (though they do best with plenty of water). The Sylvester grows slowly and stays quite short until it matures—out in the wild, it can grow up to 80 feet!

Maya Palm

This palm (Chamaedorea hooperiana) doesn't require a ton of sun and does best in partial or medium shade. It needs high humidity and plenty of water. When it matures, it can reach up to 12 feet. Fun fact: The plant was considered a rarity for collectors before the late 1980s. In 1989, the Maya palm was "rediscovered" in the rainforest of Veracruz, Mexico and was named in honor of master palm collector Louis Hooper of California.

Mexican Fan Palm

This palm (Washingtonia robusta) is sometimes also called the Washington palm, but it has no real connection to the president or state. In fact, it's native to northwest Mexico and Baja California Peninsula. The fan-shaped leaves are the reason behind its common name.

It's a very forgiving plant and can tolerate cooler temperatures—as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit! And it's a desert plant, technically, so it can withstand droughts, but you should still water it moderately for it to flourish.