Washingtonia robusta
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 Mexican Washingtonias planted in Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
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| Washingtonia robusta H.Wendl. |
Washingtonia robusta (Mexican Fan Palm or Mexican Washingtonia) is a palm native to northwestern Mexico. It 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 inflorescence is up to 3 m long, with numerous small pale orange-pink flowers. The fruit is a spherical, blue-black drupe, 6-8 mm diameter; it is edible, though thin-fleshed.
[edit] Cultivation and uses
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 Washingtonia, hardy to about −10 °C. Unlike the Washingtonia filifera, which has been cultivated as far north as Oklahoma and Maryland, the Mexican fan palm can be grown mainly around areas of the southwestern United States, such as southern California, Arizona, and southern Nevada. It may also be seen along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida.
W. robusta and W. filifera hybridise readily resulting in plants of intermediate characteristics.
