Species · genus Caryota · Arecaceae

Burmese Fishtail Palm

Caryota mitis Lour.

Also known as: Clustered Fishtail Palm · Clustering Fishtail Palm · Tufted Fishtail Palm

Growth habit

tree

Native range

Andaman Is., Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China Southeast, Hainan, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam

Reference · C. mitis

Cultivars of C. mitis

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

No named cultivars catalogued under C. mitis 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 mitis is a clustering fishtail palm from the warm, humid forests of tropical and subtropical Asia, where it grows as an understory to canopy-edge tree. Give it bright indirect light and warmth, and water when the top inch or two of mix has dried, letting it approach dryness between waterings rather than staying soggy. It wants steady humidity and good drainage; standing water at the roots invites 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, well-draining mix kept lightly moist

Propagation

From seed or division of its clustering suckers

Fertilizing

Balanced feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Does not flower indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Caryota species bear needle-like calcium oxalate raphides in the fruit and tissues, which are irritating to skin and mucous membranes. 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 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Burmese 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.