NickfromWI
Participating member
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
How the heck am I supposed to tell the difference between these 2 palms?
love
nick
love
nick
Washingtonia robusta vs. W. filifera
- Thread starter NickfromWI
- Start date
Washingtonia filifera , common names: Desert fan palm , California fan palm , Petticoat palm... the trunk on this palm brown , fairly thick at base / Foliage color :grayish - green..
Washingtonia robusta , common names: Washington palm , Mexican fan palm... Foliage color : bright green... also verry tall
Later in SO-CAL
Washingtonia robusta , common names: Washington palm , Mexican fan palm... Foliage color : bright green... also verry tall
Later in SO-CAL
- Location
- Venice, FL
Found this whilst browsing (floridata.com). Might help...
Washingtonia filifera(California fan palm):
Petioles (leafstems) of young palms are green and relatively unarmed (no thorns)
Basal sheath (bottom of the base of the leaf blade) does NOT have a bright tawny-colored patch
Crown (of mature specimans) has leaves in a loose and open arrangement
Leaflets are pendulous and swinging (not stiff), and the cottony threads persist
Trunk is barrel shaped and the palm rarely exceeds 60' in height
Washingtonia robusta(Mexican fan palm):
petioles are brown and distinctly thorny
basal sheath has a bright tawny-colored patch
crown is dense and compact
leaflets are stiff and their cottony threads fall off with age
trunk is slender (slightly swollen at the base) and can get 100 ft (30.5 m) tall
Washingtonia filifera(California fan palm):
Petioles (leafstems) of young palms are green and relatively unarmed (no thorns)
Basal sheath (bottom of the base of the leaf blade) does NOT have a bright tawny-colored patch
Crown (of mature specimans) has leaves in a loose and open arrangement
Leaflets are pendulous and swinging (not stiff), and the cottony threads persist
Trunk is barrel shaped and the palm rarely exceeds 60' in height
Washingtonia robusta(Mexican fan palm):
petioles are brown and distinctly thorny
basal sheath has a bright tawny-colored patch
crown is dense and compact
leaflets are stiff and their cottony threads fall off with age
trunk is slender (slightly swollen at the base) and can get 100 ft (30.5 m) tall
NickfromWI
Participating member
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
I found this on Sunset Blvd yesterday. I am guessing that the palms on the left are W.robusta and the right are W.filifera. I'm just basing my guess of the trunk thickness. Does that seem reasonable?
What a shame if it turns out that W.robusta is LESS robust!
love
nick
What a shame if it turns out that W.robusta is LESS robust!
love
nick
Attachments
- Location
- Santa Cruz, CA
Edd1e, what's a 'throne'?
NickfromWI
Participating member
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
Maybe he meant thorns?
I'll have to take a closer look and see if this rings true with my understanding of these two similar plants.
love
nick
I'll have to take a closer look and see if this rings true with my understanding of these two similar plants.
love
nick
- Location
- Santa Cruz, CA
Nick,
ah, you're probably right. In this case they are called 'spines'.
Washingtonias are all armed as far as I know and sure, some may have
smaller spines, but I don't recall ever seeing a spineless
specimen.
The difference is often obvious but if you're not sure just stick to the genus
and call it a 'Washingtonia'.
Washingtonias apparently hybridize easily so there are hybrids out there
like the ones planted at the SF Giants ballpark.
W. filifera is more cold tolerant than W. robusta. I included a
picture of one I pruned in Chico, an obvious W. filifera given
the location, stem size, petiole and leaflet size and color.
Wikipdedia has a good description.
'An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms' by Riff & Craft describes W. robusta
as taller, with a thinner stem and fewer hairlike fibers on the leaves and
leaf sheath. Leaves are deeper green in a smaller, more compact crown than
W. filifera.
Young W. robusta always have brown-red spines and W. filifera never
has a reddish-brown patch underneath the leaves near where the petiole
and the blade meet sometimes seen on W. robusta.
ah, you're probably right. In this case they are called 'spines'.
Washingtonias are all armed as far as I know and sure, some may have
smaller spines, but I don't recall ever seeing a spineless
specimen.
The difference is often obvious but if you're not sure just stick to the genus
and call it a 'Washingtonia'.
Washingtonias apparently hybridize easily so there are hybrids out there
like the ones planted at the SF Giants ballpark.
W. filifera is more cold tolerant than W. robusta. I included a
picture of one I pruned in Chico, an obvious W. filifera given
the location, stem size, petiole and leaflet size and color.
Wikipdedia has a good description.
'An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms' by Riff & Craft describes W. robusta
as taller, with a thinner stem and fewer hairlike fibers on the leaves and
leaf sheath. Leaves are deeper green in a smaller, more compact crown than
W. filifera.
Young W. robusta always have brown-red spines and W. filifera never
has a reddish-brown patch underneath the leaves near where the petiole
and the blade meet sometimes seen on W. robusta.
Attachments
NickfromWI
Participating member
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
How thick are those things? From the pics they look a lot thinner than the robustas or filiferas I know.
- Location
- AZ
They look like Washingtonia robusta to me, although it's a bit hard to see the trunks.
[ QUOTE ]
How thick are those things? From the pics they look a lot thinner than the robustas or filiferas I know.
[/ QUOTE ]The larger tree is about 2' at the very base.
There is a natural creek right at the base of them. The photo is taken down hill across our yard and we keep the citrus trees trimmed short.
fyi - I'm in Sherman Oaks.
How thick are those things? From the pics they look a lot thinner than the robustas or filiferas I know.
[/ QUOTE ]The larger tree is about 2' at the very base.
There is a natural creek right at the base of them. The photo is taken down hill across our yard and we keep the citrus trees trimmed short.
fyi - I'm in Sherman Oaks.
Sorry Nick, but I'm prety sure Rocks and Trees is right, they're both mex fan palms, the ones on the left are peeled while those on the right are unpeeled making the trunk appear fatter.
Calif fan palms have a dull olive green color, nubs on the petioles rather than razor sharp thorns like the mex, and the trunks are invariably twice as thick as the mex trunks are.
Duller green, nubs rather than thorns, thicker trunks and much slower growth rates. The Cal fan also usually always has scale on the leaf, blackish brown spots.
I have bumped into huge leafed mex palms once or twice that I thought were a hybrid cross between a mex and cal. The cal fan's leaves are much bigger and longer than mex fans in general.
jomoco
Calif fan palms have a dull olive green color, nubs on the petioles rather than razor sharp thorns like the mex, and the trunks are invariably twice as thick as the mex trunks are.
Duller green, nubs rather than thorns, thicker trunks and much slower growth rates. The Cal fan also usually always has scale on the leaf, blackish brown spots.
I have bumped into huge leafed mex palms once or twice that I thought were a hybrid cross between a mex and cal. The cal fan's leaves are much bigger and longer than mex fans in general.
jomoco
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