Chamaedorea

Scientific name

Chamaedorea Willd.

Common names

parlor palm, neanthe bella, good-luck palm, collinia

Family

Arecaceae

Similar genera

Nypa

Native distribution

Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize

Species cultivated

Chamaedorea elegans Mart. is frequently offered as a terrarium or aquarium plant; it is one of the most widely used house plants

Adventive distribution

none

Weed status

not weedy

Habit

terrestrial terrestrial:
(adj) growing on land as opposed to living in water
palm tree, tolerant of short periods submerged

Brief description

Evergreen tree. Stem erect, slender, compact to elongate, densely ringed with leaf scars. Petiolepetiole:
(n) the stalk of a leaf
slender, grooved and green above, rounded and pale below; sheath long, apexapex:
(n) the point farthest from the point of attachment; the tip (often pointed)
with short liguleligule:
(n) (1) a strap-shaped structure; (2) an often thin, membranous or hairy structure projecting from the top of the leaf sheath in grasses and a few other families; (3) the flattened part of the ray corolla in the Asteraceae
on either side of petiolepetiole:
(n) the stalk of a leaf
. Leaves compoundcompound:
(adj) with two or more like parts, as in a compound leaf; divided into two or more subsidiary parts or orders, as in a compound inflorescence
(paripinnate), congested at apexapex:
(n) the point farthest from the point of attachment; the tip (often pointed)
, appearing basalbasal:
(adj) at or pertaining to the base, or point of attachment
when small/young; leaf bladeblade:
(n) (syn. lamina) the flat, expanded part of a leaf, frond, or petal (excluding, e.g., the petiole)
overall oblongoblong:
(adj) two to four times longer than wide, with +/- parallel sides
to ovateovate:
(adj) egg-shaped in outline; generally with the broad end at or near the base
, apexapex:
(n) the point farthest from the point of attachment; the tip (often pointed)
round to notched, base ± round; pinnaepinnae:
(n) one of the primary divisions or leaflets in a compound leaf or frond
11-21 on each side of rachisrachis:
(n) the main axis of, e.g., a compound leaf or an inflorescence
, linear to lanceolatelanceolate:
(adj) lance-shaped; widest point below the middle, tapering to the apex
; venationvenation:
(n) the arrangement of veins in a leaf
parallel, midribmidrib:
(n) the main or central vein, line or rib in a leaf or perianth segment
prominent, pale. Inflorescence inflorescence:
(n) the arrangement of flowers on the floral axis
axillaryaxillary:
(adj) in, of, or produced from an axil
, a paniclepanicle:
(n) an indeterminate, branched (often much-branched) inflorescence; the ultimate units may be of a different inflorescence type
, erect, simple or many-branched; peduncles green in flower, red-orange in fruit; flowers when plant is very small.

Natural habitat

moist or wet, dense forest, often on limestone

Additional comments

A genus of about 100 species. Chamaedorea elegans is often offered as an aquarium plant as it tolerates short periods submergedsubmerged:
(adj) (syn. submersed) under water; submerged below the water surface
, though it is not an aquatic plant. C. elegans is a very slow growing plant in an aquatic setting.