Plant in full sun outdoors and good bright light indoors, water deeply and infrequently and protect from frost - we have had this plant outdoors over winter without protection that have not been damaged at 30°F. A great plant for a specimen in the garden or in pots that we think looks better growing in full to part sun than it does in deeper shade or indoors. The first crops of this plant tried in the US were for interior plantings and in this situation the plants are floppy, week and etiolated, but when grown in full sun they are more compact and have better, though care needs to be used to protect this plant from anything more severe than a mild frost.

Beaucarnea is a genus of plants distributed only within Mexico and central America (Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and possibly Nicaragua). Some have combined Beaucarnea into the related genus, Nolina, but we follow the treatment noted by Colin Walker in “Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons” (edited by Urs Eggli, Springer, 2001) who notes that "Rowley considered Beaucarnea and Calibanus to be synonymous with Nolina. However, the cpDNA data strongly indicates that Beaucarnea and Calibanus are closely related but distinct from Nolina … Nolina, with 3-locular ovaries, is considered basal to the other genera. Like Dasylirion, Beaucarnea has 3-winged 1 locular nutlets." The French botanist Charles Antoine Lemaire reconstituted this name for the genus when he described Beaucarnea gracilis in L'illustration horticole in 1861 from plants already in cultivation that he had called Pincenectitia (also Pincecnitia. Pincinectia and Pincenectiua).

Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' was discovered in 1996 and described in its patent application as a plant mutation of Beaucarnea recurvata in the greenhouse of Cornelis Johannes Janssen in Honselersdijk, The Netherlands. It was marketed by Fachjan Project Plants as "Variegated Ponytail Palm" or Beaucarnea 'Yellow Star' and held the now expired US Plant Patent 14,650 filed in April 2023 using the name Beaucarnea 'Gold Star'. Our first plants that we began selling in 2007 were imported and grown on by Michael’s Nursery in Boynton Beach Florida. In 2014 we contracted with Fachjan Project Plants for 2,000 stage III tissue culture plant and we repeated this order in 2017. By this time the genus Beaucarnea has been listed as a genus protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES II) so required us to get a special permit besides our normal USDA Import Permit to allow the plants to be shipped across international borders.

There has long been speculation, which we are in agreement with, that the plants we received a Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' might actually be a selection of Beaucarnea guatemalensis, which is slower and smaller growing and often has broader leaves that have red in the new growth - see our listing of Beaucarnea guatemalensis for more information on this species. This may also explain why this plant is more sensitive to cold than typical Beaucarnea recurvata. 

The information about Beaucarnea 'Gold Star' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.