Chinese Fan-Palm

Also known as Chinese Fountain Palm

Introduced in India · Kew WCVPPalm (Columnar)outdoor

Habit: Palm (Columnar)
Found in India: Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra & more
Flowering: January-February; February. onwards

Identify this plant with SASYA

The source-backed species sheet

Toxicity & contact hazards

What the sources report, with their scope intact. A missing rating stays unknown; a non-toxic listing doesn’t rule out irritation, injury or other hazards.

Thorns & prickles

Leaf stalks of young palms are spiny; adults have few or no spines.

Ecology & growing context

Native status · Kew WCVP: WCVP records it as introduced in Andaman Is., Assam, India Kew dataset ↗︎
Kew WCVP dataset; accepted-name match. Dataset matching is separate from an individual regional review. Recorded worldwide native range: S. Japan to China (Guangdong).
Explore nearby plants: Delhi →West Bengal →Maharashtra →

Occurrence records show where a plant has been recorded; they do not establish that it is native there. Compare local habitat and growing conditions when choosing plants for a garden.

How to identify Chinese Fan-Palm

Identify Chinese Fan-Palm by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.

Look for a palm (columnar) habit.
Confirm leaf type: Palmately compound (fan-shaped fronds).
In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: January-February; February. onwards.
In India, compare location records such as Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and nearby regions.
Confirm it sits within the Arecaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Chinese Fan-Palm.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Livistona chinensis
Genus: Livistona
Family: Arecaceae
Habit: Palm (Columnar)
Native to: Central China, Japan
Distribution: Cultivated in Other Tropics
Found in India: Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh
Flowering & fruiting: January-February; February. onwards
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf type: Palmately compound (fan-shaped fronds)recorded

Typical of the family

Arrangement: Alternate
Margin: Entire
Venation: Parallel

Characters marked “recorded” are for Chinese Fan-Palm itself; the rest are typical of the Arecaceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower symmetry: Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Inflorescence: Panicle
Fruit: Drupe

Typical of the Arecaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.

About Chinese Fan-Palm

Chinese Fan-Palm (Livistona chinensis) belongs to the Arecaceae family, where it grows as a single-stemmed palm. In India it has been recorded in Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra and 9 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from January to February; February. onwards.