Howea forsteriana is endemic to the coastal habitats of Lord Howe Island, Australia, and has been one of the most widely grown indoor palms in temperate climates since the nineteenth century. Victorian photographs and engravings show it standing in restaurant lobbies, hotel drawing rooms, and domestic parlors, its arching, non-recurved fronds casting a soft, ferny shadow. The genus name commemorates Lord Howe Island; the species honors William Forster, a 19th-century senator of New South Wales.

Indoors it tolerates moderate light and the kind of dry, centrally heated air that defeats most tropical plants. It adapts to sunny outdoor spots in Southern California and is moderately tolerant of salt spray and drought. For best growth it prefers a humus-rich, well-drained potting mix that stays consistently moist without sitting wet, and a slow-release fertilizer applied infrequently. Though sometimes sold in groups sharing a single pot, this is not a suckering palm — individual plants grow more vigorously than those crowded together. The main nutritional risks to watch for are potassium and manganese deficiency, which show as necrosis at the leaf tips.