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Washingtonia robusta
Also called Mexican Fan Palm, Washington fan palm, Mexican Washington Palm, Mexican Washingtonia, Fan Palm, Thread Palm
In Singapore: Mexican Fan Palm, Washington Palm, 华盛顿棕 (Grown in Singapore)
A tall, fast-growing fan palm native to the Baja California and Sonora deserts, widely planted as a street and garden tree in warm dry climates. It needs full sun, heat and little water once established.
Washingtonia filifera var. robusta, commonly known as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster, is a flowering plant in the family Arecaceae native to the Sonoran desert along the Baja California peninsula. Despite its limited native distribution, W. filifera var. 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.
Like the closely related Washingtonia filifera var. 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 (18 °F).
Field research conducted on W. filifera var. 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.
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.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Washingtonia filifera var. robusta 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.
