Skip to main content

The eponymous palm of Palm Springs

Tens of thousands of native California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) rise over the gardens and streets of Palm Springs. The fan-like leaves flutter and wave as the trees gently sway in the desert breeze. If a plant could be described as elegant, this plant would certainly be one.

Delicate fibers peel away from the leaf blade as they age, giving the palm part of its name, filifera. The advantage of the fibers to the plant is uncertain; however, the fibers were used by the indigenous Cuhuilla tribes for tools and fabrics.

It is no accident the city is named for the palm. For centuries the native Cuhuilla residents were vastly outnumbered by fan palms. For the Cuhuilla, the plant became an important resource for their tools and shelters. Even today, I wouldn't be surprised if the number of palms outnumber the residents of the current modern city.

Bird's eye view over old Palm Springs neighborhood; fan palms are everywhere.

In their native environment, the palms grow best along stream beds which are fed by the many hot springs in the region. The hot springs are the result of proximity to the San Andreas Fault - and other fault lines - where the earth's crust is very thin as two massive tectonic plates slide past each other. Water seeps down to the geothermal heat along the faults, then rises again to create the hot springs. 

Native palms growing along hot springs on the San Andreas Fault

Fan palms along a spring-fed rock pool

Washingtonia filifera is native to southern and Baja California. It is a member of the true palm family of Aracaceae. Along with filifera the only other species in the genus is robusta - Mexican fan palm - which has the very tall and slender trunk one thinks of lining the boulevards of Los Angeles. California fan palms are shorter, with thicker trunks. Very popular in landscape design, the tree now has a world wide distribution in warm climates.

A grove of palms, all sporting their skirts.
 
Senescent fans stay on the trunk to form a dense skirt of leaves. Note the sharp barbs along the edges of the petioles

As the leaves age and wither, the stay fixed to the trunk.  They then droop down to form a dense skirt around the trunk, from the crown to the ground. The skirt forms a protective layer against heat and wild fires, and provides important habitat for many species of birds, bats, and beetles.

Intrepid explorer and avid photographer, Tom Wilson, next to a cut-away of the skirt on a California fan palm.

Mexican fan palms grow to be much taller than their California cousins.

Sunset over Palm Springs (photos courtesy of Tom Wilson).




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thrip control: peppermint and clove

Here's a question: how many natural plant scents do you find repellent? The one that comes to the top of my mind is the scent of the newly blossomed corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum . It smells very much like the name implies. If I could produce a scratch-and-sniff blog post, I would be tempted. The odor is horrible to humans, but sweet to some flying insects which are also attracted to rotting flesh. But perhaps you cannot tolerate the scent of clove, or eucalyptus? Insect pests are like us in this respect. Pests in the garden and greenhouse Insects, arachnids, fungi, and viruses. Their numbers are legion. The battle is constant. The most effective weapon is vigilance. In addition to vigilance, there are biological controls made from natural compounds which are generally non-toxic to humans. Included in this category are essential oils. For example cinnamon, rosemary, sage, neem, clove, peppermint and many others. These oils are repellent, and even toxic, to many of the pests...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nerding out in Japan, autumn of 2025

We celebrated a bit of good news in our household with a spontaneously planned trip to Japan in November. Completely unintended, the trip coincided with the full regalia of fall colors. Particularly notable were the popular Japanese maples of every size and variety with their brilliant reds, yellow, oranges, greens, and rusts. But happy accident, we learned a few things about the art of sculpting full-grown trees - niwaki - and how to protect plants from ice and snow over the winter - yukizuri . Winter is coming The fall colors were still in full swing with crowds of adoring leaf-peepers - like me - filling the famous gardens and parks. Despite the crowds, there was already serious preparations for the coming winter. Fancifully pruned trees - the tree-sculpting art of niwaki similar to bonsai -  were being trussed with ropes and propped up on long poles . As newcomers, the preparations seemed extremely odd, as if some hurricane was about to shred the life out of every branch an...
2 comments
Read more

Honolulu International Airport Gardens

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu, HI Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu HI This photograph says so much about this special garden in a single image: - Senator Daniel Inouye represented Hawaii in the US Senate for decades. He was of Japanese descent and a senior in a Honolulu high school when he witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later, he volunteered for an all-Japanese army unit which served first in Mississippi, then in Italy and France during the war. The airport has rightfully been named in his honor.  - The building itself was designed - by the great Honolulu architect Vladimir Ossipoff - in the open native Hawaiian concept of the lanai. To native Hawaiians the lanai was a free-standing building with a thatched roof and open-sided walls to allow a fresh breeze to wash through. The main concourses of the airport terminal are all open to the outside air, recreating the concept of the lanai. Upon landing in Honolulu, the freshness of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more