The Lady palm - Rhapis Excelsa is popular, easy and hardy. It has palmate, or fan-shaped, leaves that grow on unarmed petioles up to 1-2ft long. Leaves are deeply divided into 4-10 segments, never overlap but are slightly offset. The Lady Palm fronds are dark green when grown in shade to a light green when grown with more sunlight. This is a variegated Japanese variety so be careful with too much light. As the lower leaves grow old, they turn from glossy and green to dull and discolored. You should trim them off for an attractive appearance. The Lady Palm has less than 8 to 10 leaflets per leaf with saw-toothed ends.
Keep the temperature between 50°-70° degrees F. (Older plants will stand 18° degrees F.)
Partial sunlight to shade.
Moist soil. Water throughly and let drain. A container grown Rhapis will have its roots at the bottom of the pot, so
“finger testing” the top will not give you a correct indication of the dry/wetness of the soil. It’s important that the roots are watered but not kept soggy.
Doesn’t need a lot of fertilizer.
This palm is a slow grower.
Rare variegated rhapis.