I agree Parlour Palm, Chamaedorea elegens, is a good choice for indoors. And a larger one good for indoors is Kentia Palm, Howea forsteriana.

As above - little palm get Chamaedorea. Big palm get Kentia/Howea. The rest are all a pain in the @rse for a variety of reasons.

Rhapis excelsa is a beautiful palm, also Chamaedorea elegans. For a similar look try Cyperus alternifolius. Its not a palm but it looks palmy and needs to be stood in water

Or if you can find one, Lytocarium weddellianum

Anthony – that is beautiful, I like the look of a vine
growing up the trunk. What is the vine?

GreenLarry – the Cyperus
papyrus would be really nice in a water feature. And the Lytocarium weddellianum is
stunning.

Subtropix – what are the issues with majesty
palms, how is it that they die as you mentioned?

I googled the others as well - Rhapis excels, Howea
forsteriana and Chamaedorea are all very pretty.

So where to get any of these? I really like the Lytocarium weddellianum. The office I am in has very high ceilings so even
if it grew to 8 – 10 ft would be fine.

Thanks all for the suggestions, I never knew
there were so many choices of palms that would do well indoors in a
container.

Subtropix, it doesnt look like a parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans ) yo me at all.

It may not look like Chamaedorea elegans to you because it is a solitary specimen (they often are seen as clustering), but I have no doubt that it is a Parlor Palm. Mine have looked quite similar with suckers removed. If you doubt it, post it on the International Palm Forum for confirmation.

Wasn't there a picture of a palm with the first response that had a vine growing on it? Now that post is gone...weird.

Does anyone recommend a good place to purchase one of the suggested varieties? Is a parlor palm the ones that I would see in Lowes or Wal Mart?

Thanks!

Parlour Palms are relatively common in nurseries but they are usually planted as a handful of seed in a pot so grow up as a clump. They are single trunked plants and can sometimes be bought as a single plant which has a different appearance. A clump of plants will grow slower than a single one. If you have the room a Kentia will be very impressive if you can buy a large one. Otherwise they can take a bit of time to fill in a large space.

I had C.elegans in a pot, it was a rescue plant I found near a bin! Took it home but it gradually faded. It was a pot of seedlings that gradually whittled itself down to 4 plants. I should maybe have split it from the start. Ill know better next time!

Tropicbreesent - so if I find a Kenta or Parlor palm would you recommend separating the clumps or individual plants so it would grow more rapidly? The office will have room for a larger plant, very high ceilings nice windows for light. If it is small I could put it on a plant stand at first but there is a nice spot that would be perfect for a palm - even if it were 6 ft tall right now.

Thanks again everyone for suggestions. I have done some research on the names of the palms you folks have recommended and see that most like bright but indirect light, they don't like to stay wet but not dry out completely, "fast draining soil" is the term I have read on most of them.

Kentia palms make good indoor palms..., if you can find them. They are also, not cheap. Another palm I would suggest is Chamaedorea seifrizii. It is a clumper (and strong vertical grower), but it is more widely available and less expensive.

Most likely you'd find Kentias as single plants. The Parlour Palms would more likely be clumps in pots. It all depends on the 'look' you're after. If you do separate some it would be best to do it in water as the roots get quite tangled. Separating them always involves some risk.

Chamaedorea seifrizii, commonly called Bamboo Palm does look a bit like a cross between a palm and a bamboo. It's a clumper so keeps producing more trunks. It's fairly spindly and grows relatively tall.

You could even try Chamaedorea metallica. Metallic looking leaves and it flowers quite young

You can check this out for other palms than Chamaedoreas and Kentia: http://blog.tropicsathome.com/growing-tropical-palms-indoors/

Tropical plants I grow indoors · More Info

My C.metallica with flower stem at the top (they open orange)

Update - I got a chamaedorea palm just picked one up at Walmart. I know not the ideal place to purchase plants but it was inexpensive and I liked the look of it. It looked fine, but got it home and there is evidence of spider mites. I have had plants with spider mites before and have been reasonably successful in ridding them (does anyone ever get completely rid of them???, not sure). I brought it home and laid it down on the grass and gently hosed it down. I have some neem oil and some other mite spray I will use. When I dealt with SM in the past I covered the plant with a clear bag to really increase humidity and moisture and I think that helped get rid of them. Please tell me that palms are not like Ivy that is a SM magnet?

Anyway, should I change its pot (repot/pot-up/transplant)? I have read to not change the pot of a new plant until it has settled in (whatever that means) and have read that the soil/medium in purchased plants is not really very good so getting them out of that sooner rather than later is good. Have also read that palms need gentle care with handling roots while changing pots.

I will try to post a photo.

Thanks again to all.

Check out this thread on Lytocarium

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/50020-lytocaryum-weddellianum-in-pots/#comment-766728