I I gather by "Areca Palm" you don't actually mean an Areca Palm, they're a very tropical palm that are not generally sold as houseplants, and they don't look much like a Parlour Palm. There are over 60 species of Areca palms. This link is to a page listing the more common Areca palms:
www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Category:ARECA

This is a more complete list of all the Areca palms:
www.pacsoa.org.au/wiki/Category:Areca

Parlour Palms are small single trunked understorey plants. Often sold in mass plantings, a handful of seed thrown into a pot to give them a "clumping" look. They do well in low light conditions and are relatively tough, which makes them good for indoors. If you look carefully at a pot full of them you can see they're individual plants.

Dypsis lutescens, Golden Cane Palm (although some varieties are less "golden" than others). The Golden Canes like full sun and are remarkably drought tolerant, although it does slow their growth.

This is listed as an Areca. Looks like a Parlor palm to me. That's why I am questioning whether my palm is really a Parlor palm or not.

Here is another listed as an Areca. Looks like a Parlor palm to me also. Looks like my Parlor palm.

Tropicbreezent....lzrddr.....Thank you both for your information. But I guess I'm still wondering what I have for sure. Look at the pictures I posted of the two palms labeled as Arecas. Do they look like Arecas Palms to you, or do you think they are mislabeled and are actually Parlors?

That is a Dypsis lutescens (aka 'Areca' Palm, or Butterfly Palm). Looks NOTHING like a Parlor Palm (Chamaedorea elegans) at that size!! First of all, as I said, a Parlor palm has a single, skinny, knobby, bamboo-like stem with rings every 1/2"⦠Your palm has huge stems, whitish with flecking on them (as I described above). Your palm, as you might notice, has light green leaves (Parlor palms have dark green leaves), and your palm's leaves arch strikingly (Parlor palm leaves are more flat)..

Here's a shot of Chamaedorea elegans (Parlor palm) growing outdoors

Here's another shot of a couple Chamaedorea elegans (I think two or three in this pot) of my own. These two pics are taken of palms outdoors⦠sorry I have no pics of indoor palms showing how dark their leaves are inside a home.

And what your palm will look like, should you decide to grow it in a good climate outdoors...

I agree, that's definitely a Golden Cane, Dypsis lutescens. Looks like it was also a multiple planting of seeds into the one pot. So there are several plants that are suckering.

The pictures I posted above are not of my plant. Those were pictures I found online of a couple Arecas. I started looking at pics of these plants because someone had posted a picture of their young Areca and I thought it looked at lot like my plant. However I now realize I was looking more at the foliage (which I think is quite similar in pictures) rather than looking at the trunks. But now that I read what you two have said, I do believe I have the more common Parlor Palms. And I have also realized that I've had one of the biggest 'Brain Drains' that I've ever had. lol Don't know why I didn't just take a picture of my plant and post it here. Sorry guys...really...not sure what I was thinking. sheesh. So I will take the picture now and post it below. Thanks for all your help...both of you!

Again, thanks!!!
Linda

P.S. That's my young Windmill Palm on the right. I just got it this Summer. This is my first try with a palm other than Parlor Palms.

have three Chamaedorea elegans in pot on left. And I guess, as you said, a Trachycarpus on the right (though at that size, could be a lot of different palms, but Trachy does seem the most likely).

Not sure you think those look the least bit like the palms in the above photos (the Dypsis)⦠look of the leaves is about as different as you can get and still be a pinnate palm.

I really like your parlor palm Linda. It's beautiful! Good luck with the windmill palm. They make great outdoor palms, but I've also had good luck with them indoors too, they definitely don't mind overwintering indoors by a bright window.
-Alex

I am glad that Shenue has solved the issue of her parlour palm. I however, am still confused. My palm is, by your helpful description above, is an Areca, or Butterfly palm, as it has lots of speckled, smooth stems. My confusion arises from a description of the Areca palm, which says that the new leaves unfurl. I have seen these palms many times in garden centres etc, whereas my palm's young leaves shoot up like spears then when full height the fronds separate into a beautiful new leaf. Could anyone clarify please?

If someone is calling the Golden Cane Palm, Dypsis lutescens, an Areca for a start they don't know what they're talking about. The internet is flooded with dubious information. Fern fronds unfurl. But palms, as you've noticed, come up in more of a "spear" or just straight out. In some species they curl back a bit as they mature, as can be seen in your photo, others stay more straight.

Hi there, I found this forum as a very great resource. I was also wondering about two palm trees I have got. As per above discussion I am pretty sure attached pictures are parlor palm tree??? Big one is nearly 35 years old.

appreciate your response...

As you can see the leaves are turning brown, a bit worried about the lacking of care. Can you please help me out!!

The second picture is a Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana).

Glad I found this thread (even though I’m pretty late to it, it seems), but am still confused about my palm... It looks more like what’s being called “areca” above, but the leaves are dark green, not light. I thought it was a parlor palm, but not so sure now. Thoughts?

"Cat Palm". A species of Chamaedorea. They need constant moisture and are water lovers!

Guessing this is a parlor

Not sure why one frond is folded rather than flat like the

Here are a couple more pics.

Anyone know for sure? Also, why it seems to be quite delicate?

Yes, a Parlour Palm, Chamaedorea elegans . They're an understorey rainforest plant.

Hi, I’ve been reading through the comments but can’t figure out what my new house plant is (it was unlabelled in the garden centre!) I’m not sure between the Parlour Palm or maybe an Indoor Lady Palm. Is it possible to tell now or will I have to wait for it to grow some more? Grateful for any advice!

HU-906690094 : post a picture of it here! Parlour Palms have pinnate fronts; Lady Palms have palmate fronds.

Sorry I tried to upload one with my message but I didn't realise it hadn’t worked. Here is a photo of it now. Thanks

Hi I’m trying to buy an areca palm for increased air quality. Photos online vary so much. This photo above looks like the areca seedlings I‘ve seen on an Etsy listing otherwise everything else I see in stores and online look more like the majesty palm or the other palm photos posted above. I actually like the look of this one in the photo dated May 19th best. Nice looking plant! Help identifying would be grearly appreciated. Thank you!

I went back to the store I bought it from today and found others the same which were labelled and it is the Areca Palm! Mine is about 30 inches tall and I’m loving it!

Hi! Confirming this is a parlor palm, and is it growing seeds??

Not a good photo, but it does look like a Parlour Palm. There are separate male and female plants so whilst they will flower, you must have one of each sex to get seed.

Thanks for the comment! Here's a better pic (I think) - what causes it to spread out instead of growing up?

New fronds grow up like a spear, tall and straight, and then begin to open out. This opens the frond to maximum light. They're a rainforest plant growing under the canopy of trees. They need to catch as much light as possible in what is a dim environment.

@HU-862910287 I've had my parlor palm for 16 years. It 'blooms' (as seen in your picture) several times every year, usually producing 2 to 4 of them during one 'blooming' time..

Hello everyone. I found this thead really helpful. Thank you all. Could you please help me confirm what my new plan is? I just started taking care of plants and try to figure out how to recognize them

HU, you'd be best to start your own thread. This thread was started 6 years ago.

But it's kind of hard to tell on your palm. You should show the entire plant as well as closeups of the trunks. It may be Chamaedorea cataractarum, the cat palm, cascade palm, or cataract palm.

Thanks a lot. I will try to post some more photos, if someone could help me. I thought of posting here because there was already a lot of stuff on the topic.