Common Name(s): California Fan Palm

Synonym(s):

Family: Arecaceae

Native To: South-central California, northern Baja California, rarely in Arizona, up to 700 m (2300 ft) in elevation

Native Habitat: Arroyos or canyons where groundwater or streams are present

Growth Habit: Tree with a single massive trunk

Flowering: Spring

Distinguishing Characteristics: The trunk can grow to 3 ft in diameter at the base. The fan-shaped leaves are approximately 3 to 6 ½ ft wide and are divided for more than half of the leaf's total length. The leaves, which are gray-green and more or less erect to horizontal when functioning, do not fall off when they senesce (grow old) but instead hang down to form a "skirt." If left untrimmed, the thatched skirt may reach 40-50 ft long and serves to protect the trunk from freezing. It may also play a role in making the tree fire resistant. Quickly moving, relatively cool fires burn the skirt but not the trunk itself. Flowers are inconspicuous and occur on branches (inflorescences) up to14 ft long. The fruits ripen in autumn.

Natural History and Cultivation Notes: The species name, filifera, means "bearing filaments or threads," a reference to the filamentous leaf margins. These trees may live up to 150 years and grow to heights of up to 80 ft. They require a constant source of water, however. Compared to W. robusta, this tree is usually shorter in height but with a much more massive trunk and more fibrous, shaggy leaves. The two species may hybridise producing individuals of intermediate form. Birds and coyotes eat the seeds and are likely to be responsible for seed dispersal.

Ethnobotany: Fruits are eaten fresh, dried or preserved by the Cahuilla people, Native Americans of Southeast California, and the Cocopa people of Arizona. The juice of fresh fruits is also used to make a beverage. Cahuilla grind the seeds into a mush (Moerman 1988). Terminal buds are baked and eaten. Leaves are used as thatch for homes. The fiber, obtained from the leaves, is used to make ropes and baskets. These palms are so important to the native peoples in southwestern North America that some ethnobotanists believe the present distribution of the plant is related in part to human dispersal. Whether this was done purposefully or simply as a result of eating fruits and then answering nature's call is open to debate.

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