Syagrus romanzoffiana
A fast-growing, tropical tree graced with gently arching fronds, the queen palm is an aesthetic treat.
With a crown of foliage that’s not quite uniform, the queen palm has the same delightful asymmetry as a right-to-left hair part, the leaning tower of Pisa, or even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s trademark Samoan tattoos.
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Syragrus romanzoffiana also has a moderate tolerance of drought and salt spray, making the tree more than just a pretty face.
And just like the queen piece in chess, the queen palm is a very powerful asset to the tropical landscape.
Our guide to growing palm trees has all the details about other members of the Arecaceae family. In this article we’ll zero in on how to care for queen palms.
Here’s what we’ll be discussing:
What Are Queen Palms?
The queen palm – aka Syragrus romanzoffiana – is a member of the Arecaceae family, alongside related plants such as parlor, fishtail, and lady palms.
The queen palm has had quite a few botanical name changes over the years.
First scientifically described in a French publication as Cocos romanzoffiana in 1822, the queen palm was also dubbed Cocos plumosa by England’s Loddiges nursery around 1825.
When a queen palm seedling found it’s way from the Loddiges nursery to England’s Kew gardens in 1840, Kew botanists thought that it was Cocos coronata instead.
But when the specimen reached maturity and produced fruit, the garden’s director Joseph Dalton Hooker officially published the botanical name as C. plumosa in 1860.
Destined to become a popular ornamental, queen palms were sold under the C. plumosa name well into the 2000s.
However, there was still nomenclature disagreements among big-brained plantspeople.
By 1912, C. plumosa had been reduced to C. romanzoffiana var. plumosa by the German Botanist Alwin Berger. Later, the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari designated it as one of many varieties of Arecastrum romanzoffianum.
It wasn’t until 1968 that queen palms were officially designated Syragus romanzoffianum. To this day, there’s still confusion in the trade… but now you know the true truth!
Originating from the tropics and subtropics of South America, the queen palm has also been introduced in the United States – California and Florida in particular.
In the Sunshine State, the University of Florida has assessed the plant’s potential invasiveness and slapped it with a “Caution” warning, urging growers to manage S. romanzoffiana so that it doesn’t escape from its intended planting sites.
With a USDA Hardiness Zone range of 9 to 11, S. romanzoffiana is actually pretty hardy for a tropical plant, as it can survive in temperatures as low as 25oF without taking damage from the cold.
These trees reach mature heights of 30 to 50 feet, with spreads of about half that. S. romanzoffiana sports a narrow gray trunk that’s one to two feet wide, ringed with leaf scars.
In typical palm tree fashion, the trunk doesn’t significantly increase its girth like those of true trees – it only grows upwards.
At the top of the trunk is a crown of feathery green fronds, which tend to droop with age.
On full-size specimens, each frond can grow up to 15 feet long, while each individual leaflet can measure three feet in length!
In spring to summer, queen palms will bloom with large, long-stemmed clusters of pale yellow to white flowers.
After pollination, the blooms will give way to brownish-orange fruits that turn bright orange when ripe. These tend to drop and collect en masse at the base of trees.
Queen Palm Propagation
While it’s possible to grow these plants from seed, it’s a very slow process. You’re better off purchasing a plant from a nursery for transplanting.
But if you do fancy a seed-starting project, here are the details:
From Seed
Growing this species from seed can be a bit frustrating, as it takes six weeks to six months before germination occurs.
You’ll also need to keep the sown seeds at high temperatures the entire time, whether in a greenhouse or a natural environment that’s consistently hot.
In contrast to most palm seeds, S. romanzoffiana seeds actually germinate better when they’re taken from unripe green fruits, rather than half-ripe or fully ripe ones.
But if you lack a bucket truck or monkey-like climbing skills, then collecting seeds from freshly fallen fruits works, too. You can even avoid all that work and buy some seeds from a reputable vendor instead.
To collect your own seeds, gather the fallen fruits, remove their fleshy pulp, and soak the seeds in water for two days. Change the water each day, and allow them to air-dry for a day or so after soaking.
Once they’re soaked, dried, and ready to go, fill four-inch containers with a half-and-half mix of moisture-retaining and well-draining ingredients, such as peat moss and perlite.
Then, sow your seeds just below the media’s surface – one per container, ideally.
Since germination can be so erratic, you’ll need to prep and sow several seeds in a bunch of containers.
Place your containers somewhere they receive full sun exposure, in an environment that’s consistently kept at temperatures of 90 to 95oF.
Moisten the growing media, and keep it moist as seeds germinate and seedlings appear.
Once the seeds germinate and one to two leaves have formed, you can start hardening them off in preparation for planting outside.
This means leaving the seedlings out in their eventual environment for a half to a full hour, then adding 30 to 60 minutes of exposure each successive day. After they’re hardened off, they are ready for transplanting!
Transplanting
Whether you have started your own seedlings or purchased a plant at the nursery, before you transplant, you should select and prepare the appropriate planting sites.
Choose spots in the garden with sandy to sandy loam soil and a pH of 6.0 to 6.5, with full sun to partial shade exposure.
Space your planting sites as far apart as you expect your plants to spread once they’re mature. Or simply space them 12 feet apart, if you want to keep them more contained.
Alternatively, you can grow your queen palm in a pot which will naturally restrict how large the specimen will become. Prepare the pot with a half and half mixture of peat moss and perlite or use a palm-specific potting mix.
Dig holes about the same depth and a little bit wider than the root systems of the plants. The holes should be approximately the same size as the container the plant is currently growing in.
Carefully remove the plant from its container, lower it into the hole before backfilling with soil. Water in well, and add more soil if it settles.
How to Grow Queen Palms
A plant such as the queen palm deserves nothing less than the royal treatment. Here’s how to provide it:
Climate and Exposure Needs
As mentioned earlier, S. romanzoffiana needs to be in USDA Zones 9 to 11 if it’s to survive for the long term.
Temperatures consistently below 25oF will damage the fronds, although the plant has been known to bounce back after brief exposure to temperatures in the mid-teens.
Hot and humid is best, though.
Full sun is ideal, although a bit of shade is also acceptable.
Soil Needs
The optimal soil for a queen palm is either sand or a sandy loam. Ideally with a slightly acidic pH of 6.0 to 6.5, as alkaline soils can cause severe nutritional deficiencies.
If you go with either of those sandy textures, then the “well-draining” requirement is taken care of by default. These plants absolutely must have well-draining soil.
Water and Fertilizer Needs
As a moderately drought-tolerant plant, S. romanzoffiana will appreciate supplemental irrigation when the top three inches of soil dries out – but it can make do with less water.
Be sure to keep an eye on it during hot or dry spells.
Regular applications of a palm-specific fertilizer during the growing season will help to shore up any nutrient deficiencies.
Jobe’s Organics Fertilizer
Jobe’s Organics makes a granular palm food with a 4-2-4 NPK ratio that’s available via Amazon.
As with any fertilizer, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions for application.
Growing Tips
- Full sun exposure is best.
- Make sure the soil pH is 6.0 to 6.5.
- Water when the top three inches of soil dries out.
Pruning and Maintenance
One aspect of S. romanzoffiana that’s a bit of a bummer: they don’t self-clean, which means dead fronds will stay up on a tree for a while if they aren’t pruned away.
Dead, diseased, and damaged fronds should all be promptly pruned, whether via a ladder, a bucket truck, and/or a long pole saw.
You can also remove the floral inflorescences before they set seed, if you’re not a fan of copious amounts of fruit falling to the ground and making a mess.
A two- to four-inch layer of mulch, when applied several inches away from the trunk, can do wonders for moisture retention and help protect the roots during cold spells.
Should any fallen seeds germinate and grow volunteer plants, you’ll want to pull those quickly.
If you’re growing your queen palm in a container, the plant will need repotting every couple of years as it becomes root bound.
For logistical purposes, you might want to cap your maximum container size at 15 gallons to prevent the plant from becoming too large and unruly.
Where to Buy Queen Palms
So you’ve decided to buy a queen palm or two… or ten. What now?
If you happen to live near a tropical plant nursery – Florida’s full of ’em – you should be set. Whether you buy seeds or starts, businesses that specialize in heat- and humidity-loving plants are your best bet.
Of course, you could also buy your S. romanzoffiana specimens online.
Queen Palm
Fast Growing Trees carries queen palm specimens in a variety of different sizes to suit your needs.
Managing Pests and Disease
The queen palm isn’t prone to infestation or disease if it’s grown in optimal conditions, but sometimes issues can arise in spite of your best efforts.
Since you’re dealing with super tall plants, you may need some vertical assistance when you apply any controls.
Pests
There are a number of pests that can target palms, including S. romanzoffiana.
Palm Leaf Skeletonizer
What a cool, intimidating name – kinda like “Skeletor” or “Dr. Doom.”
Homaledra sabalella, the palm leaf skeletonizer, is a potent threat. After emerging from eggs laid on the plant, the translucent, brown-headed caterpillars construct silky, frass-flecked tubes, which combine into large silk mats that cover the upper and lower surfaces of the foliage.
In large groups, the caterpillars really go to town, quickly consuming leaf tissue until all that remains are leafy “skeletons” of limply-hanging veins and midribs.
As you can imagine, photosynthesis is reduced, while the plant’s health and aesthetics quickly suffer.
Insecticides aren’t effective against these pests, as they often can’t get through the silk.
Predatory insects such as tachinid flies and parasitic wasps can provide mild control, while high-velocity sprays of water from the garden hose can physically knock the pests from infested areas.
Scale Insects
Belonging to the Coccoidea superfamily, scale insects are the round, flattened bugs that congregate in conspicuous masses on plants like fish or reptile scales, or perhaps a dermatologist’s nightmare.
Whether soft-bodied or armored, these pests extract sap from leaves with their piercing-sucking mouthparts, which can weaken and stunt growth, and cause yellow leaves.
Spider Mites
These arachnids are tough to see with the naked eye, but you may notice their webs.
In a similar fashion to scale insects, spider mites extract sap from leaves like juice from a juice box.
Stippled leaf tissue is the initial symptom, which can progress into chlorosis, bronzing, or even defoliation. Adding insult to injury, the afflicted leaves will exhibit conspicuously ugly webbing.
Strong sprays of water provide manual control, while applying insecticidal soaps will kill the pests outright.
Bonide Insecticidal Soap
Need insecticidal soap? You can find ready-to-use spray bottles of Bonide Insecticidal Soap available from Arbico Organics.
Disease
There are two main diseases that can threaten the life of your queen palm, fusarium wilt and ganoderma butt rot. Let’s take a closer look at both of these:
Fusarium Wilt
A gnarly disease, Fusarium wilt is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Palmarum (say that five times fast!), which can stay dormant in soil for many years.
Spreading via spores, the pathogen clogs up the water-conducting xylems of infected plants.
Symptoms start in the petioles of old leaves first, leaving a single side of infected fronds with leaflets that are functionally dead, yet held up in their petrified place like they were taxidermied.
Eventually, the entire frond dies, and the symptoms spread to younger and younger leaves until the entire crown perishes.
There is no known cure for Fusarium wilt. All you can do is prevent its spread, by swiftly removing infected plants, and avoid planting new palms in infected soils.
Removed specimens and their detritus should be burned or buried.
Ganoderma Butt Rot
I’ll try to keep this brief – I’m writing this bit in a quiet library, and I can only type “butt rot” so many times before I start to giggle.
Caused by the fungus Ganoderma zonatum, ganoderma butt rot is usually confined to the bottom three to four feet of a palm’s trunk, hence the name. This disease causes the inside of the trunk to decay, leaving it discolored with a gnarly brown stain.
By the time the tree shows decline and symptoms of wilting, 85 percent of the trunk will be destroyed.
Before the plant dies, fruiting bodies – or conks – can form on the lower part of the trunk and produce billions of dusty, reddish-brown spores that spread the disease far and wide.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to diagnose butt rot until a palm dies or develops the conks, so my advice is purely reactionary.
If your tree comes down with ganoderma butt rot, completely remove it and grind down the stump – you don’t want conks to grow on a dead, yet intact stump!
You’ll also want to avoid planting a palm in the same infected spot, lest you deal with this affliction once again.
Best Uses for Queen Palms
As any royalty knows, where you place the throne is important. And this queen doesn’t mind sharing the throne – S. romanzoffiana looks fantastic when grown in a group as well as solo.
When planning your queen palm placement, consider planting them near curbsides, or perhaps on median strips in the road.
Maybe even an island in the cul-de-sac, if you’ve got that kind of pull with your HOA. Just make sure you clear up the fallen fruits at season’s end!
Quick Reference Growing Guide
| Plant Type: | Evergreen monocotyledonous perennial | Flower/Foliage Color: | Cream/green |
| Native to: | South America | Maintenance: | Moderate |
| Hardiness (USDA Zones): | 9-11 | Tolerance: | Moderate drought, moderate salt spray |
| Bloom Time: | Spring, summer | Soil Type: | Loose, sandy to loamy |
| Exposure: | Full sun to partial shade | Soil pH: | 6.0-6.5 |
| Time to Maturity: | 5-10 years | Soil Drainage: | Well-draining |
| Spacing: | 12+ feet | Attracts: | Birds |
| Planting Depth: | Just below surface (seeds), depth of root system (transplants) | Uses: | Curbside appeal, groupings, patio plantings, specimens |
| Height: | 30-50 feet | Order: | Arecales |
| Spread: | 15-25 feet | Family: | Arecaceae |
| Water Needs: | Moderate | Genera: | Syagrus |
| Common Pests and Disease: | Palm leaf skeletonizer, scale insects, spider mites; Fusarium wilt, Ganoderma butt rot | Species | Romanzoffiana |
All Hail the Queen
Regal and proud-looking, S. romanzoffiana is a beautiful addition to any tropical landscape.
Are you growing queen palms in your landscape? Have any questions? The comments section below is waiting for you to share whatever’s on your mind.
And for more information about growing other types of palms, add these guides to your reading list next:
