Bamboo palm vs Lady palm

Chamaedorea seifrizii · Rhapis excelsa

Bamboo palm and Lady palm are close on every field we record, so choose on looks or price.

Why these two get mixed up

Both are sold as "bamboo palm". That is not a nickname problem — a plant labelled bamboo palm in a shop could be either of these, and they want different things.

Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) — **Bamboo palm** — Chamaedorea seifrizii. Photograph by KENPEI, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

Lady palm (Rhapis excelsa) — **Lady palm** — Rhapis excelsa. Photograph by Aris riyanto, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0.

	Bamboo palm	Lady palm
Scientific name	Chamaedorea seifrizii	Rhapis excelsa
Family	Arecaceae	Arecaceae
Light floor	Low	Low
Water	7–12 days	8–14 days
Humidity floor	40%	40%
Mature height	36–84 in	36–96 in
Habit	clumping	clumping
Growth rate	slow	slow
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Toxic to pets	No	No
Typical price	$30–100	$50–200

Highlighted cells are where the two actually differ. Everything else they share.

The differences that matter

On every field we record these two are close. Choose on looks, price or whichever the shop has — the care will be much the same.

Which should you buy?

In a dim room, take either — both have a low light floor.
If you forget to water, take Lady palm, which goes 10 days between drinks.
If it is your first plant, take Lady palm, at 1 of 5.
For a small shelf, take Bamboo palm, which stops around 84 inches.

Full entries

Bamboo palm — care fields with sources, toxicity with every authority consulted, propagation and diagnosis. Lady palm — the same.

Sources

This database's own care records for Chamaedorea seifrizii and Rhapis excelsa — every figure compared above.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — accepted names and families for Chamaedorea seifrizii and Rhapis excelsa
ASPCA Animal Poison Control — toxicity classification for both, cited on each species entry
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, individually credited and licensed above

Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-12
Every comparison above is drawn from a recorded field. Where the honest distinguisher is visual we show both photographs rather than describing a leaf we have no field for. How this is sourced.