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Washingtonia filifera
Also called Desert Palm, American Cotton Palm, California Washingtonia, Washington Palm, Cotton Palm, Desert Fan Palm, Petticoat Palm
California fan palm is a tall, single-trunked, evergreen palm native to desert springs and streams in the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. Give it full sun, deep but infrequent watering, and well-drained soil; it is among the hardiest palms.
Washingtonia filifera, commonly known as the California fan palm, cotton palm or desert fan palm, is a flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, native to the far southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It typically grows 30–50 feet (9–15 m) tall and 1–2 feet (0.3–0.6 m) wide, with a sturdy, columnar trunk and waxy, fan-shaped (palmate) leaves. As a monocot, it is evergreen and exhibits a tree-like growth habit.
It is the only palm species native to the southwestern United States, forming groves around perennial water sources in the Colorado, Mojave, and Sonoran deserts. These stands provide critical habitat for wildlife and were historically used by Indigenous peoples of the region for food, shelter, and materials.
Washingtonia filifera is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree. It is one of the hardiest coryphoid palms, rated as hardy to USDA hardiness zone 8. It can survive brief temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F) with minor damage, and established plants have survived, with severe leaf damage, brief periods as low as −17 °C (1 °F). The plants grow best in arid or Mediterranean climates, but can be found in humid subtropical climates such as eastern Australia and the southeastern USA. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Washingtonia filifera var. filifera is the only palm species native to the southwestern United States, and the vast majority of its populations occur in southern California. Here it dominates spring-fed and stream-fed oases across the Colorado Desert, with additional scattered stands in the Mojave Desert.
The sweet fruit pulp of the fan palm is edible. The fruit is eaten raw, cooked, or ground into flour for cakes by Native Americans. The Cahuilla and related tribes use the leaves to make sandals, roof thatch, and baskets. The woody petioles are used to make cooking utensils. The Moapa band of Paiutes and other Southern Paiute people have written memories of using this palm's seed, fruit, or leaves for various purposes, including as famine food. The bud (known as heart of palm) is also eaten.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Washingtonia filifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
