Hi:
Here we have the California Fan Palm that grows so nicely and slowly in our native state.
A great palm tree that requires little water.
California Desert Fan Palm
Washingtonia Filifera
If you close your eyes and imagine a typical Southern California landscape, chances are that you've pictured at least one palm tree, if not several, rising from the ground. But despite the diversity and ubiquity of palms in the Los Angeles area, only one species—Washingtonia filifera, the California fan palm—is native to California. All of L.A.'s other palm species, from the slender Mexican fan palms that line so many L.A. boulevards to the feather-topped Canary Island date palm, have been imported.
Range
Occur naturally in desert oases in isolated areas of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of southeastern California, southwestern Arizona, and northern Baja California, Mexico, at elevations between 500 and 1,000 feet. Widely cultivated as an ornamental in Southern California.
Habitat
Moist soils along alkaline streams and in mountain canyons.
Description
There are 2,500 species of palms worldwide, with 11 native to North America. The largest of these, and the only palm tree native to western North America, is the California fan palm. It is also known as the desert palm and the California Washingtonia. It should not be confused with the date palm.
The fan palm has a large, gray unbranched trunk with horizontal lines and vertical fissures. The trunk is 2 to 3 feet in diameter and grows 20 to 60 feet high. The fan palm has numerous evergreen leaves, composed of leaf stalks, 3 to 5 feet long, with hooked spines along the edges.
These fan-shaped leaves spread from around the top of the tree while numerous old, dead leaves hang down against the trunk. For this reason it is sometimes also called the petticoat palm. The dead leaves form a protective area that provides habitat and shelter for many creatures, including birds, insects and small rodents.
In the spring, huge clusters of white, 3-lobed, funnel-shaped flowers, about 1/2 inch long, hang down from leaf bases.
The California fan palm does not produce dates, but does fruit elliptical black "berries" about 1/2 inch in diameter. These berries have a very large, brown seed surrounded by a thin, sweet pulp, which native Americans ate fresh or dried. They also ground the seeds into flour. Hooded orioles and coyotes feast on the seeds as well, aiding the palms' proliferation.
Rare groves of the fan palm can be seen in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, near Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park in California, and near Yuma, Arizona.
At Gregory Palm Farms our goal is to produce the very best palms suitable for the Southern California area.
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