Species · genus Caryota · Arecaceae

Fishtail Palm

Caryota maxima Blume

Also known as: Giant Fishtail Palm · Mountain Fishtail Palm

Growth habit

tree

Native range

Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Philippines, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam

Reference · C. maxima

Cultivars of C. maxima

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under C. maxima yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Caryota maxima is the giant fishtail palm, a large tree native to the warm, humid monsoon forests of South and Southeast Asia, where it grows in dappled understory light before reaching the canopy. Indoors it wants bright indirect light, warmth, and steady humidity, with an evenly moist but never waterlogged root zone. Water when the top inch or two of mix has dried; let it approach dryness between waterings rather than sitting wet, which invites root rot.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 12 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

16–29 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive but well-draining mix

Propagation

Grown from fresh seed; does not sucker

Fertilizing

Balanced feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Does not flower indoors; a once-in-a-lifetime bloomer outdoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Fishtail Palm yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.