Areca catechu (Areca Palm)

An easily grown palm for both the tropics and warm sub-tropical areas (it is apparently cold sensitive). It prefers shade when young, although it does take full sun at quite a young age. It likes a moist, well drained soil, and doesn't like to dry out. This palm is the basis of a large industry in SE Asia, where the seed is chewed for its intoxicating properties, as well as its supposedly beneficial side effects, such as aiding digestion, and controlling internal parasites and dysentery.