Washingtonia filifera
California fan palm · also Cotton palm, Desert fan palm
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The California fan palm is a stately, evergreen palm with a sturdy, columnar trunk and waxy, fan-shaped leaves. It is native to desert oases in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, providing critical habitat for wildlife. Widely planted as an ornamental tree, it faces pressures from groundwater decline in wild populations.
Where it grows
Trees in each city's inventory, with the share of that city's named trees this species accounts for.
- 1,7720.38%35 yr30 in
- 5652.1%—26 in
- 1050.03%—9.8 in
- 430.53%——
- 400.03%—14 in
- 130.01%—5.6 in
- 110.01%—9.0 in
- 20.00%—7.5 in
- 20.00%—7.1 in
Traits
- Form
- Palm
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Mature height
- 49.2–65.6 ft
- Canopy spread
- 9.8–19.7 ft
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Water needs
- Moderate
- Wildlife value
- High
Trunk diameters across every city: median 30 in, mean 27 in, 90th percentile 30 in. Measured at breast height, as published by each inventory.
Native range
Terrestrial ecoregions where this species is native. Trees in the dataset mostly stand well outside it.
Deserts & Xeric Shrublands
- Baja California desert
- Gulf of California xeric scrub
- Sonoran desert
Other Washingtonia in the catalogue
3 of the top 2,000 species are in this genus.
