This is one of my favorite palms. I love all the licualas and plan to collect some more. I have read that they are not cultivated a lot outside So Florida and that many of the species have never been collected for propagation. They come from shady lowland rainforest mainly Solomon Islands. Fairchild Gardens has some nice specimens in the ground of different ones.
This is truely an amazing looking palm, however it is not a zone 8b tree. It is probably the hardiest of all of the Licuala species but It can only take moderate frosts It can not tolerate winds and in Florida it does better in shade and can not stand to be crowded.
It does make a great indoor plant and a great container specimen also.
It is a rare palm that maybe extinct in it's native area of Thailand and Malaysia.
If you plant it outside please keep me posted as to how well it does.
Wes North Vancouver Zone 8b/9a
Keats Island BC Zone 8a
Palm Springs CA Zone 9b/10a
I won't ever be putting any of the licualas outside here, they will all be greenhouse specimens
You sure have some very interesting palms 😀
Shoshone Idaho weather
<img src="http://weathersticker.wunderground.com/weathersticker/miniWeather06_both/language/www/US/ID/Gooding.gif" alt="Click for Pearce, Arizona Forecast" border="0" height="50" width="150" /></a>
Here's to all the global warming pushers, may your winters be -30 below and four feet of snow in your driveway. Because I want you happy.
-Aaron-