Chusan palm
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Forgiving Among the more tolerant plants here.
Also called Chinese Fan Palm, Chinese windmill palm, Fortune's Palm, hemp palm, Nepalese fan palm and windmill palm.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H5 — -15 to -10°C -15 to -10 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Bleached patches on the side facing the glass
Scorched fronds on the Chusan palm turn from pale to brown and brittle, and the damage stops where the shade of another frond fell across it.
Even a plant described as full sun, partial shade can take more through glass than it would outdoors, because glass removes the breeze that carried the heat away.
Telling it apart: Whether the patches grow. Scorch is done once it happens; a leaf spot keeps spreading.
RHSDiagnose spots on the leaves on this Chusan palm- Edges of the fronds brown while the middle stays sound
The Chusan palm browns at the very tips first, and the brown line creeps back along the edges over weeks. The tissue is dry and brittle, not soft.
Penn State Extension notes that most indoor plants benefit from more humidity than a home heated in winter provides. The leaf edge, furthest from the veins, is where the shortfall shows. That applies while it is grown indoors; its RHS rating of H5 describes a plant that also grows outside, where the air is seldom that dry.
Telling it apart: Whether the soil is dry too. Crisp edges with damp soil point at the air; with dry soil, at the watering.
Penn State ExtensionChusan palm brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Split, browned fronds on the side of the plant facing the wind
The Chusan palm looks battered rather than sick. Fronds are nicked and browned at the edges, and the damage is heaviest on the most exposed side.
RHS lists it for a sheltered position. Wind pulls water from the leaf faster than roots replace it, and it bruises the tissue it strikes, so a plant grown out in the open is marked on its windward side.
Telling it apart: Whether it followed stormy weather. Damage that appeared overnight after wind is weather; damage that develops over weeks is something else.
RHSChusan palm brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Wrinkling rather than yellowing
The Chusan palm hangs evenly all over, and the compost has gone pale and hard. Nothing is spotted or rotten; the plant is simply short of water.
Its source describes well-drained soil. A pot left dry past that point cannot supply the plant, and wilting is the fastest visible response.
Telling it apart: Lift the pot. A plant that is light and sagging is thirsty; one that is heavy and sagging is not.
RHSDiagnose yellowing leaves on this Chusan palm
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Chusan palm.
Routine care
- Propagation
- It can be grown from seed, but seed forms only when a male and a female plant are both present.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Sow seed, or remove suckers and pot them up.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by Boisduval scale and other scale insects.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Usually free of pests and diseases.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Trachycarpus fortunei, also known as the Chusan palm, Chinese windmill palm, hemp palm, or simply windmill palm, is a species of hardy evergreen palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- SC. China to N. MyanmarWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Central and eastern China.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026N Myanmar to SC ChinaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- temperateWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- Perennial, Tree; habit arching, erectNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Bushy (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 96–120 in; width 48–72 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height Higher than 12 metres; spread 1.5-2.5 metres after 20–50 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers gold/yellow, green; blooms in summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers yellow in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Uses
What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.
In China the plant is commonly made into rope, brooms, mats and cloth.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Chusan palm
More of the Arecaceae family
Areca palmA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Kentia palmDry, curled edges on fronds near a heater
Lady palmA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Parlour palmCrisp margins that appear in winter
Pygmy date palmA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Bamboo PalmSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.