Majesty Palm

The Essence

"The Majesty palm (Ravenea rivularis), also called the Majestic palm, is a tall, single-trunked feather palm endemic to southwestern Madagascar. It is one of the most popular ornamental palms in the world and a familiar houseplant, prized for its graceful, arching, feathery fronds and relatively slow growth. In the wild it is a riverine palm, growing along shady riverbanks, lagoon edges and in shallow swamps within an otherwise dry, hot, semi-arid landscape. A solitary trunk can reach about 5-20 m tall in habitat (occasionally more), carrying a crown of 16-25 arching pinnate fronds up to roughly 3 m long; as a houseplant it usually stays a manageable 10-12 ft. The species epithet rivularis, Latin for 'of the brook,' captures its streamside home. It is frost-sensitive and suited to USDA zones 10a-11b, so beyond the tropics it is grown indoors. Despite its ubiquity in the horticultural trade, it is Endangered in the wild, with only around 900 mature trees estimated to remain across a fragmented range threatened by deforestation, habitat loss and seed harvesting."

The species was formally described as Ravenea rivularis Jum. & H.Perrier, published in 1913 (Ann. Mus. Colon. Marseille, ser. 3, 1: 54).