Washingtonia robusta

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title: "Washingtonia robusta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["washingtonia", "plants-described-in-1883", "trees-of-northern-america", "north-american-desert-flora", "trees-of-mediterranean-climate", "ornamental-trees"] description: "Species of palm" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washingtonia_robusta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of palm ::

|image = 2022-02-20 Washingtonia robusta, Las Flores, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.jpg |image_caption = Washingtonia robusta growing wild at Las Flores, Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico |genus = Washingtonia |species = robusta |authority = H.Wendl. |synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true |title=Synonymy |Brahea robusta Voss |Neowashingtonia robusta (H.Wendl.) A.Heller |Neowashingtonia sonorae (S.Watson) Rose |Pritchardia robusta (H.Wendl.) Schröt. |Washingtonia filifera var. gracilis (Parish) L.D.Benson |Washingtonia filifera var. robusta (H.Wendl.) Parish |Washingtonia filifera var. sonorae (S.Watson) M.E.Jones |Washingtonia gracilis Parish |Washingtonia robusta var. gracilis (Parish) Parish ex Becc. |Washingtonia sonorae S.Watson}} |synonyms_ref =

Washingtonia robusta, known by common name as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster is a palm tree native to the Baja California peninsula and a small part of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Despite its limited native distribution, W. robusta is one of the most widely cultivated subtropical palms in the world. It is naturalized across the southern United States, Mediterranean, and Middle East.

Description

W. robusta grows to 25 m tall, rarely up to 30 m. The leaves have a petiole up to 1 m long, and a palmate fan of leaflets up to 1 m long. The petioles are armed with sharp thorns. The inflorescence is up to 3 m long, with numerous small, pale orange-pink flowers. The fruit is a spherical, blue-black drupe, 6 – diameter; it is edible, though thin-fleshed.

Taxonomy

It is one of two species in the genus Washingtonia. The other is the close relative Washingtonia filifera, which occupies a more northerly distribution. Compared with W. robusta, W. filifera has a thicker trunk and dull green leaves.

Nomenclature

• English: Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, skyduster
• Spanish: abanico, palma colorado, palma real, palma blanca, palma negra
• Seri: Zamij ctam

Distribution

This palm is native to the Baja California peninsula and Sonora. On the peninsula, it occurs from the Sierra de La Asamblea and the Baja California desert south into the Vizcaino region and the Sierra de La Giganta, and into the southern cape. In Sonora, it occurs in canyons in the western half of the state, particularly in the palm oases of the Sierra El Aguaje north of Guaymas. It is relatively restricted, and is suspected to be a relict population in Sonora. It has the fewest plants in the palm oases that are shared with two other more numerous species, Brahea brandegeei and Sabal uresana.

Cultivation

Like the closely related Washingtonia filifera (California fan palm), it is grown as an ornamental tree. Although very similar, the Mexican washingtonia has a narrower trunk (which is typically somewhat wider at the base), and grows slightly faster and taller; it is also somewhat less cold hardy than the California fan palm, hardy to about -8 C.

Field research conducted on W. robusta in its native habitat on the Baja California peninsula concluded that its potential longevity may exceed 500 years. Supporting research by Barry Tomlinson and Brett Huggett states that there is "evidence for extreme longevity of metabolically functioning cells of considerable diversity in palm stems." Many of the iconic "sky dusters" of Los Angeles that have survived the chainsaws of progress are documented in photography from the 19th century.

The Mexican fan palm is normally grown in the desert Southwestern United States, in areas such as California, Arizona, southern Nevada, extreme southwestern Utah and Texas. It also cultivated in the coastal areas of South Atlantic states and the Gulf Coast, including southern North Carolina, coastal South Carolina, southern Georgia, and Florida. Along the Gulf Coast, Mexican fan palms can be found growing along the Florida west coast westward to South Texas.

Washingtonia × filibusta is a hybrid of W. robusta and W. filifera, and has intermediate characteristics of the two parents, especially greater tolerance of wet cold. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Arlosoroffblvd2.jpg" caption="Arlozorov avenue, [[Afula]], Israel"] ::

Maintenance

Like the related W. filifera, W. robusta does not drop its older leaves but retains them firmly attached to the trunk as it grows. This is referred to as the beard or skirt of the tree. When growing in the wild, the tree's large, heavy skirt is a great asset for wasps, rats, mice, scorpions, birds, spiders, and other small animals, who can use the complex environment as a nest and habitat similar to the way small fish and invertebrates nest in a coral reef. However, in the context of a hotel, golf course or home, the proliferation of small animals can become a nuisance to human property owners. For this reason, when W. robusta is cultivated, its skirt of heavy, dry, dead leaves is typically cut ("trimming"), and then the leaf bases are removed to give the trunk a relatively smooth, uniform appearance ("skinning") by arborists. Due to the tree's great height, and the extreme weight of the skirt, this process has been extremely dangerous and potentially lethal to arborists. As a result, the California Department of Public Health developed a series of reports and training materials to prevent accidents while trimming tall skirt-bearing palms such as W. robusta.

Gallery

File:Flowering Mexican Date Palm.jpg|Flowering palm in Chandler, Arizona File:Washingtoniainfructescence.JPG|Infructescence File:Robustaflowers.JPG|Inflorescence File:Washingtonia Robusta Gaziantep TurkeyIMG 0202.jpg|Washingtonia robusta with an average height of 59 feet, Gaziantep, Turkey File:Asupalms.jpg|Arizona State University's Palm Walk File:Robustabeach.JPG|Species in Venice Beach, California File:WashingtoniaRobustaGeorgia.png|W. robusta growing in Saint Simons Island, Georgia File:Palm Trees in San Jose California.jpg|W. robusta and Canary Island date palms are commonly seen lining many streets throughout San Jose, California. File:Los Angeles, Koreatown, Palm Trees.jpg|Palm trees lined up at S. Occidental Blvd between Koreatown and Westlake of Los Angeles, California File:Hotel De Anza San Jose Palms.jpg|Species line Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California File:Los Angeles Washingtonia Robusta.jpg|Oldest palms in Los Angeles, planted* circa* 1875 File:Enterprise Mexican Palm.jpg|A Mexican fan palm tree in Enterprise, Alabama File:Mexican Fan Palm Sacramento, California.jpg|Mexican Fan Palm From Sacramento, California

References

References

1. {{GRIN
2. [http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-214261 The Plant List]
3. (2001). "The Trees of Sonora, Mexico". Oxford University Press.
4. [http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=214261 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families,''Washingtonia robusta'' ]
5. [http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Washingtonia%20robusta.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map]
6. Little, Elbert L.. (1994). "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region". Knopf.
7. (1999). "The Palms (Arecaceae) of Sonora, Mexico". Aliso.
8. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico". San Diego Society of Natural History.
9. (2006). "Growth rates and age of native palms in the Baja California desert". Journal of Arid Environments.
10. (2012-12-01). "Cell longevity and sustained primary growth in palm stems". American Journal of Botany.
11. Riffle, Robert Lee. (2008). "Timber Press Pocket Guide to Palms". Timber Press.
12. "California Department of Public Health".

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