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Chamaedorea elegans Mart.

Parlour palm

Native records: 8 botanical areas

Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, 5 more areas

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Natural distribution

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NativeIntroducedUncertain

Distribution is shown as WGSRPD Level 3 areas. It does not imply the species occurs throughout an entire area.

Last updated:

Distribution last verified:

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Photograph of Chamaedorea elegans

A small understory palm in the family Arecaceae, native to the forests of southern Mexico and northern Central America, with a slender stem and delicate pinnate fronds. Its shade tolerance and easy care make it one of the most widely grown indoor palms in the world.

Description

A compact palm that forms a single slender, cane-like stem and usually reaches only 1–2 m in height. It bears a few dark green pinnate leaves that give it a fine, graceful habit. The species is dioecious: branched inflorescences emerge along the stem and carry many small yellow to orange flowers, followed on female plants by round, black, berry-like fruit. It dislikes strong direct sun and thrives in low light, which made it a favourite parlour plant from the Victorian era onward. Slow-growing and modest in size, it can be kept even on a tabletop.

Habitat

Grows in the understory of tropical forest from southern Mexico through Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, favouring shaded, humid conditions often on limestone terrain beneath taller canopy trees.

Distribution areas

  • Belize

    • BelizeNative

  • Guatemala

    • GuatemalaNative

  • Honduras

    • HondurasNative

  • Mexico

    • Mexico CentralNative
    • Mexico GulfNative
    • Mexico NortheastNative
    • Mexico SoutheastNative
    • Mexico SouthwestNative

Climate of the native range

The Köppen climate classes found in the areas this plant is recorded as native to. It does not mean an entire area has that climate.

  • Aw Tropical, savannah
  • Am Tropical, monsoon
  • Cwb Temperate, dry winter, warm summer
  • BSh Arid, steppe, hot
  • Af Tropical, rainforest
  • BSk Arid, steppe, cold
  • BWh Arid, desert, hot
  • Cwa Temperate, dry winter, hot summer

The same climate occurs in 194 areas worldwide, 186 of which have no record of this plant. See them on the map

A matching climate does not mean the plant can grow there. Range limits are also set by things other than climate — dispersal history, soils, competition. Source: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0 (observed period 1991–2020).

Other names

Parlour palm、Good luck palm、Neanthe bella palm、Parlor palm

Family
Arecaceae
Genus
Chamaedorea

Other species in Chamaedorea

Sources

  • World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04

    Belize · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv

    Open source

  • World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04

    Guatemala · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv

    Open source

  • World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04

    Honduras · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv

    Open source

  • World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), version 2026-06-04

    Mexico · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · wcvp_distribution.csv

    Open source

Image information