Elegant Areca palms for your living space

These cluster-forming palms called Areca are commonly seen in malls and hotels to ensure fresh breathing indoors. They are also called butterfly palms because of their feathery appearance, and betel plant due to its nut or fruit which is largely consumed in Asia.

Areca plants have a life span of 10 years and have been identified to have at least 50 species in the Pacific, Asia and Africa. WTN gets you more on these graceful arcing fronds.

Have them in living rooms

Areca palms convert CO2 into oxygen and are perfectly safe to be kept in your kid’s room. They are equally safe for pets. NASA rated it 8.5 for purifying air on a scale of 10. These houseplants are efficient in processing the gasses essential for photosynthesis and absorb potentially harmful gases thus, eliminating benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, etc from the atmosphere.

Easy maintenance

Though these tropical plants are not fussy about the type of soil and are easy to take care of, they also make sure they are not neglected.  They thrive in indirect sunlight, do best in warm temperatures and need water-soluble fertilizers maybe just once in 10 days. Being a topical plant, areca palms love humidity and require occasional misting throughout the year. At the most they require repotting very few years.

Caution

Studies reveal that though the fruit or the seed is an antidepressant, increases appetite and saliva production, has a relaxing or stimulating effect, and kills worms, it is also linked with various types of mouth cancers like esophagus and pharynx. It increases the risk of obesity, cardiovascular ailments, metabolic syndrome and even tooth decay.

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