Golden Cane Palm
Dypsis lutescens · Arecaceae
Do you need a permit?
Golden Cane Palm is a protected tree in effectively every council Pro Climbing Tree Services covers. Expect to need a tree permit, or a development application where the property is heritage listed or in a heritage conservation area.
How to identify it
A clumping palm with many slender yellow green canes rising from a single base, each ringed like bamboo, topped with arching feather fronds. Quite different from the single trunked Bangalow or Cocos Palm.
Where it grows in Sydney
Planted in enormous numbers as a screening palm across the Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, Northern Beaches and North Shore, usually along boundaries and around pools.
Common problems
- Clumps expand relentlessly and outgrow narrow side setbacks
- Dense fibrous root mass lifts paving, pool coping and boundary walls
- Frond and seed drop into pools and gutters
- Planted as a screen and then shades out everything beneath
- Very heavy to remove for its size because of the root ball
What removal involves
The canes come down quickly, but the job is the root mass, which is dense, fibrous and usually wedged against a fence, pool shell or paving. Budget for excavation rather than a simple stump grind. On the Northern Beaches it falls under the general palm exemption, since only the Cabbage Tree Palm is carved out; elsewhere check the council, as most exempt lists name Cocos Palm specifically rather than palms generally.
Council permit rules, council by council
Status below is for a tree on private land that has passed the council's size threshold. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping and conditions of development consent override every exemption shown here.
| Council | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Beaches | No permit needed | On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules |
| Ku-ring-gai | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Hornsby Shire | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| The Hills Shire | Confirm with Council | Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules |
| Blacktown City | Permit required | Council does not run a species exemption list. A permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold, and each tree is assessed on its own merits. Official rules |
| North Sydney | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Willoughby | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Lane Cove | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| City of Ryde | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Hunters Hill | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| City of Sydney | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Inner West | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Woollahra | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Waverley | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Randwick | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Bayside | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Georges River | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Strathfield | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
| Burwood | Confirm with Council | Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Permit required | Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules |
Frequently asked questions
Is Golden Cane exempt like the Cocos Palm?
Only where a council exempts palms generally. The Northern Beaches exempts all palms other than the Cabbage Tree Palm, so it is covered there. Most other councils name Cocos Palm by species, which does not extend to Golden Cane.
Can a clump be thinned instead of removed?
Yes, individual canes can be taken out at the base to reduce density and width, and it is a good alternative where the clump is only just outgrowing its space. It needs repeating every couple of years.
Commonly confused with
- Bangalow Palm Golden Cane clumps from the base with yellow stems, Bangalow is single trunked
Related species
Important note on council rules
This encyclopedia is a practical guide for Sydney property owners, not legal advice. Council tree rules change, and exemptions are frequently overridden by heritage listings, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping, endangered ecological communities and conditions attached to development consent. Always confirm the current rules with your council for your specific address before any tree work begins, or ask us to check it for you.
Photo by Forest & Kim Starr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Need council approval? We handle the application.
Most councils will not accept a removal application without species identification, photographs and a stated reason. We prepare and lodge the lot, then carry out the work once it is approved. One call, one invoice, no forms to work out yourself.