This extremely handsome palm from the Ryukyu Islands and Iriomote in southernmost Japan has a neat, clipped appearance that is heightened by its beautiful, prominent purplish crownshaft and pink inflorescences.
The Satake Palm does best in a warm temperate to tropical climate.
Moderate, solitary, unarmed, pleonanthic, monoecious palm. Stem erect, usually enlarged and with a mass of adventitious roots at the base, columnar above, green to brown, longitudinally striate, ringed with close leaf scars. Leaves pinnate, spreading; sheaths tubular, forming a prominent crownshaft and with a prominent chartaceous ligule.
Satakentia liukiuensis can survive freezing temperatures to about -3.8°C (25°F), but freezing is best avoided. This species naturally occurs on islands in moist montane forest, and is heavily effected by the surrounding sea temperatures, which are constant and often form sea mist and cloud.
Leaves pinnate, 10-14 in number, and dead leaves fall cleanly from the stem. leaf sheaths are closed and form a prominent, brown or reddish green crownshaft.
