Dypsis lutescens dwarf form

[happypalms]

I can honestly say iam not a fan of golden cane palms. But today I found a reasonable reason to like them in the form of dwarf varietie. Thanks to Colin Wilson for gifting me those ones 4 in total, but the curator Rick ackland of Coffs Harbour botanical gardens had his eye on them for the garden so offered one up as a donation to the garden in Coffs harbour. A very intriguing little palm that does not flower and is propagated by division only. Not sure if this is the Thai variety or Vietnamese variety but it doesn’t matter it’s in the collection now so thank you Colin for the palms there in good hands now. 

[JD in the OC]

That looks like 'Thai Dwarf'. Very nice little palm.  They have been propagated here in FL for a couple decades.

Here's a variegated form that i ran into in Miami last week. (Wasn't for sale 😤)

[peachy]

Golden canes do very well as a houseplant so the dwarf variety should be perfect for that market.  I always said if they made a single trunk version it would be a perfect palm. But big or small, as long as they clump I will hate the bloody thing.

Peachy

[Harry’s Palms]

I really like the regular form , I didn’t even know there was a dwarf variety. I have two very large specimens, one on each side of my house . Only a small footprint for such a lovely, clumping palm . They grow very well here . Harry

[happypalms]

12 hours ago, JD in the OC said:

That looks like 'Thai Dwarf'. Very nice little palm.  They have been propagated here in FL for a couple decades.

Here's a variegated form that i ran into in Miami last week. (Wasn't for sale 😤)

Faint variegation but variegated nonetheless a real winner and worth a few bucks too I bet. 

[happypalms]

11 hours ago, peachy said:

Golden canes do very well as a houseplant so the dwarf variety should be perfect for that market.  I always said if they made a single trunk version it would be a perfect palm. But big or small, as long as they clump I will hate the bloody thing.

Peachy

I know you love clumping palms peachy. I thought of you straight away wanting a row of them out the front yard as a nice little border. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

10 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I really like the regular form , I didn’t even know there was a dwarf variety. I have two very large specimens, one on each side of my house . Only a small footprint for such a lovely, clumping palm . They grow very well here . Harry

At least with the dwarf variety you won’t have your compost heap full of leaves. Think of all the time you will have spare on a Sunday now not picking up them leaves. The problem is with golden cane palms is they are absolutely perfect for any type of gardening making them so popular. I could sell hundreds of them all year long. But I don’t like growing them unfortunately I have to or I lose a sale, number one question I get asked is got any golden cane palms yes I do but wouldnt you prefer a baronii or even better a Joey.

Richard 

[peachy]

8 hours ago, happypalms said:

I know you love clumping palms peachy. I thought of you straight away wanting a row of them out the front yard as a nice little border. 
Richard 

Richard, Possum, Pet.  You can imitate a turkey at christmas for that remark.

Peachy

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, peachy said:

Richard, Possum, Pet.  You can imitate a turkey at christmas for that remark.

Peachy

How embarrassing for the turkeys. Having me as a representative on Xmas day🤣

[Cape Garrett]

That does look to be the Thai dwarf.  I have a Vietnam dwarf with a more upright habit and stiffer leaves vs the weeping leaves of the Thai variety.

[Cape Garrett]

Another picture of a mature Vietnam dwarf I found on Instagram.  

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

That does look to be the Thai dwarf.  I have a Vietnam dwarf with a more upright habit and stiffer leaves vs the weeping leaves of the Thai variety.

These are awesome. They look way cooler than the normal variety. Or maybe I've just become a palm snob. 

[Dimimelbourne]

No these are definitely cooler! 
Although becoming a palm snob is easy to fall into isn’t it 😂

 

[Cape Garrett]

They make great potted specimens too.

[Palmensammler]

4 hours ago, Cape Garrett said:

Another picture of a mature Vietnam dwarf I found on Instagram.  

They look perfect, but we can only get the standard form in Europe.  The only way to keep these like dwarf is, as a kind of theory, using a small pot. Currently i have three pots grown from seed where I can try my theory.

Eckhard 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, Dimimelbourne said:

No these are definitely cooler! 
Although becoming a palm snob is easy to fall into isn’t it 😂

 

The irony is I'm literally planting a bed of people's unwanted castoffs and volunteers and stuff they were going to compost. 

[peachy]

19 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

These are awesome. They look way cooler than the normal variety. Or maybe I've just become a palm snob. 

All of the Lutescens make a great indoor plant and don't clump as thickly.  I might even consider a dwarf species of it for indoorsl

Peachy

[Harry’s Palms]

I still like the regular , tall form . I think the dwarf form is nice and wouldn’t mind having one but the regular form , in my garden , are very lush looking palms with very colorful features, ranging from pink to gold to orange hues. They do get very tall but mine have a very controlled footprint. Harry

‘the golden canes

‘Looking up through the lower fronds. I don’t have a pic of the pinkish coloring near the stem on a newly opened frond. Harry

[Cape Garrett]

2 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I still like the regular , tall form . I think the dwarf form is nice and wouldn’t mind having one but the regular form , in my garden , are very lush looking palms with very colorful features, ranging from pink to gold to orange hues. They do get very tall but mine have a very controlled footprint. Harry

‘the golden canes

‘Looking up through the lower fronds. I don’t have a pic of the pinkish coloring near the stem on a newly opened frond. Harry

These are nice if well kept.  They can get out of control quite easily.  Yours look nice.  I chose to remove hedges of them.  It was a mess and painful to keep up with for me.  Too many.

[Dimimelbourne]

That’s the thing many have said. Golden canes have their appeal and uses and are hardy as hell. It’s that hardiness that’s also their undoing (or lack there of.) So messy and hard work in many climates. Anywhere near the tropics and these are a pain to keep under control, maybe in cooler areas they’re easier to manage 🤷🏻‍♂️

I wonder if the dwarf ones are easier to manage in terms of their spread 

[JohnAndSancho]

9 hours ago, peachy said:

All of the Lutescens make a great indoor plant and don't clump as thickly.  I might even consider a dwarf species of it for indoorsl

Peachy

I had a community pot of them on my patio in Texas. I mean, it's my fault, they were potted way too low, they were in one of those stupid self watering pots and the roots all went through the bottom of it, when they got delivered it looked like UPS dropped it out of an airplane onto my roof, and I never really appreciated them. They were just kinda.... There. But I really like the different foliage on the Vietnamese dwarf version. 

[tim_brissy_13]

Very interested about the lack of flowers on these Richard. Can any of the experts confirm if this is always the case for the Thai and Vietnamese dwarves? And if so why? Struggling to wrap my head around why cultivated varieties of these would never flower. 

[Jonathan]

39 minutes ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Very interested about the lack of flowers on these Richard. Can any of the experts confirm if this is always the case for the Thai and Vietnamese dwarves? And if so why? Struggling to wrap my head around why cultivated varieties of these would never flower. 

My guess would be that the original gene mutation that resulted in dwarfing also resulted in sterility, or in this case inability to produce flowers, then subsequent propagation has been by division? 

[JD in the OC]

1 hour ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Very interested about the lack of flowers on these Richard. Can any of the experts confirm if this is always the case for the Thai and Vietnamese dwarves? And if so why? Struggling to wrap my head around why cultivated varieties of these would never flower. 

I had two clusters of Vietnam dwarf next to my house. Floribunda circa 2005. One had two canes and one had three canes. Both clusters began flowering once they had about 7 feet of clear trunk. Never produced any seed. The inflorescences were small as well. I split them so many times when they were young that I believe they reverted back to a standard golden cane palm stature.  I had them cut down to make room for a shade house.

JD

[happypalms]

On 9/18/2025 at 11:42 PM, Cape Garrett said:

That does look to be the Thai dwarf.  I have a Vietnam dwarf with a more upright habit and stiffer leaves vs the weeping leaves of the Thai variety.

That’s a beautiful one the Vietnam var. It looks better the the Thai form. 

[happypalms]

11 hours ago, JD in the OC said:

I had two clusters of Vietnam dwarf next to my house. Floribunda circa 2005. One had two canes and one had three canes. Both clusters began flowering once they had about 7 feet of clear trunk. Never produced any seed. The inflorescences were small as well. I split them so many times when they were young that I believe they reverted back to a standard golden cane palm stature.  I had them cut down to make room for a shade house.

JD

Apparently they don’t set seeds, but that’s interesting the ones you had reverted back  I will definitely keep that in mind when I go my ones. 

[happypalms]

13 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Very interested about the lack of flowers on these Richard. Can any of the experts confirm if this is always the case for the Thai and Vietnamese dwarves? And if so why? Struggling to wrap my head around why cultivated varieties of these would never flower. 

That’s the story I got told from two sources and one source was in Thailand. Most likely a mutation that they discovered, who knows how it happened only the person who developed it or discovered it would have the real story behind it I guess, who knows it could end up like a Chinese whisper eventually? 

[happypalms]

15 hours ago, Dimimelbourne said:

That’s the thing many have said. Golden canes have their appeal and uses and are hardy as hell. It’s that hardiness that’s also their undoing (or lack there of.) So messy and hard work in many climates. Anywhere near the tropics and these are a pain to keep under control, maybe in cooler areas they’re easier to manage 🤷🏻‍♂️

I wonder if the dwarf ones are easier to manage in terms of their spread 

The pot full I have when planted where jam packed with roots that much I had to cut the container off. So most likely just as vigorous as its big brother. And I for one will never plant a golden cane ever again I have better things to do on Sunday than pick up dead palm leaves! 

[happypalms]

22 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I still like the regular , tall form . I think the dwarf form is nice and wouldn’t mind having one but the regular form , in my garden , are very lush looking palms with very colorful features, ranging from pink to gold to orange hues. They do get very tall but mine have a very controlled footprint. Harry

‘the golden canes

‘Looking up through the lower fronds. I don’t have a pic of the pinkish coloring near the stem on a newly opened frond. Harry

That variety you have is almost a bamboo looking one I like it. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

23 hours ago, peachy said:

All of the Lutescens make a great indoor plant and don't clump as thickly.  I might even consider a dwarf species of it for indoorsl

Peachy

What my possum you want a clumping palm!

Richard 

[Mazat]

On 4/7/2025 at 7:39 AM, happypalms said:

I can honestly say iam not a fan of golden cane palms. But today I found a reasonable reason to like them in the form of dwarf varietie. Thanks to Colin Wilson for gifting me those ones 4 in total, but the curator Rick ackland of Coffs Harbour botanical gardens had his eye on them for the garden so offered one up as a donation to the garden in Coffs harbour. A very intriguing little palm that does not flower and is propagated by division only. Not sure if this is the Thai variety or Vietnamese variety but it doesn’t matter it’s in the collection now so thank you Colin for the palms there in good hands now. 

I also really like this style and form of hers, Richard.

[Mazat]

13 hours ago, Jonathan said:

My guess would be that the original gene mutation that resulted in dwarfing also resulted in sterility, or in this case inability to produce flowers, then subsequent propagation has been by division? 

Interesting thought process, Jonathan.

[happypalms]

1 minute ago, Mazat said:

I also really like this style and form of hers, Richard.

If I could send you a pup from my one I would! 

[Mazat]

1 minute ago, happypalms said:

If I could send you a pup from my one I would! 

Yes, that would be great indeed, Richard 😄

[happypalms]

Just now, Mazat said:

Yes, that would be great indeed, Richard 😄

Possible but……

[Mazat]

14 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I had a community pot of them on my patio in Texas. I mean, it's my fault, they were potted way too low, they were in one of those stupid self watering pots and the roots all went through the bottom of it, when they got delivered it looked like UPS dropped it out of an airplane onto my roof, and I never really appreciated them. They were just kinda.... There. But I really like the different foliage on the Vietnamese dwarf version. 

Yes, unfortunately I've also had a problem with UPS. I hope no one from them reads this, although in order to improve, no matter what it is, you have to be able to take justified criticism.
I had ordered something rather fragile for Sabine, but in the end it arrived as a puzzle, and Sabine just said, “Is someone trying to challenge me?”
She's very good at puzzles. 
I had also tried the pots a long time ago, and it was a disaster...

[Hu Palmeras]

You won't believe I haven't been able to germinate this palm tree yet. I've germinated others, but not this one. I was about to buy it, but it's just the typical, common palm tree that everyone has.

[Dimimelbourne]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

The pot full I have when planted where jam packed with roots that much I had to cut the container off. So most likely just as vigorous as its big brother. And I for one will never plant a golden cane ever again I have better things to do on Sunday than pick up dead palm leaves! 

Don’t blame you! Plenty of very well behaved Dypsis or Chryslicablabka (I can never get the spelling correct) to choose from 

[JD in the OC]

has anybody ever acquired the upright/stiff mutant lutescens cultivated by nong-nooch? Would love to find one of those..

JD

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, Mazat said:

Yes, unfortunately I've also had a problem with UPS. I hope no one from them reads this, although in order to improve, no matter what it is, you have to be able to take justified criticism.
I had ordered something rather fragile for Sabine, but in the end it arrived as a puzzle, and Sabine just said, “Is someone trying to challenge me?”
She's very good at puzzles. 
I had also tried the pots a long time ago, and it was a disaster...

Oh buddy I am the exact opposite when it comes to making a stink about problems. I've worked in customer service and hospitality most of my life, so I know better than to take it out of the employee in front of me. I can't tell you how many times I got yelled at and screamed at by hotel guests over things that I had no control over, but I have absolutely no problem publicly stating that, for example, the United States Postal Service (not UPS, I currently love UPS) is an absolute joke with unreliable deliveries, lost packages, unexcusable delays, my dog could do a better job of tracking packages than they do, they treat their employees like crap (my local driver's delivery vehicle is a 20 year old Ford Escape with duct tape seat covers), employees behind the counter are rude and not even remotely knowledgeable, packages are routinely destroyed and/or lost as if it's part of their business model, and they've prioritized delivering Amazon packages above everything else. There's constant rumors about eliminating rural service altogether, depriving millions of deliveries of pretty much anything not from Amazon, and I'm very good friends with a union shop steward. Years ago, (this is not a political rant, I promise) our government forced the Postal Service to fund employee retirement pensions 75 years into the future which no other organization has ever had to do - obviously, this is financially crippling. 75 years is a long damn time - I mean that's easily 3 generations of an entire rotating workforce, but - I'll stop before I do get political. Anyway our postal service is straight up buttcheeks and dumping deliveries from one of the world's richest companies into their laps while simultaneously financially crippling them is arguably one of the worst business decisions ever made, both from a logistics and from a personnel standpoint. 

 

Anyway lol