Licuala grandis, the ruffled fan palm, Vanuatu fan palm is a species of palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific. A compact and robust palm grows easily with minimum care and enjoys humid and warm climes.
Licuala grandis is an attractive and small-sized palm species of the fan palm genus, Licuala, that’s primarily grown for its exotic and unique foliage. A slow-growing solitary and single-trunked palm tree that can reach up to 10 ft (3 m) tall and has a crown spread of about 8 ft (2.4 m) wide or less. However, it’s mostly seen at lower heights, around 6 ft (1.8 m) tall. It has an upright and slender trunk, about 4-5 ins (10-12.7 cm) in diameter and is brown to grey-coloured. It will be ridged with old leaf scars and traces of fibrous leaf sheaths, sometimes providing free housing for volunteer ferns as seen in the above image. It is top-heavy with evergreen foliage, forming a beautiful canopy with its very large fan-shaped leaves, each about 22 ins (0.56 m) or more in diameter.
