Washingtonia

H. Wendland

Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 37: 68, 148. 1879.

Common names: Fan palm palmier evantail de Californie
Etymology: fFor George Washington, 1732–1799, American patriot and first president of the United States
Synonyms: Neowashingtonia Sudworth
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 22. Treatment on page 105.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA22 P20 Washingtonia Sabal Phoenix pg 107.jpegPhoenix reclinata
Sabal palmetto
Washingtonia filifera

Plants tree palms. Stems solitary, erect, tall, massive in one species (more than 10020 cm diam.) (100–150 cm diam.), partly or completely covered with old leaf-bases and marcescent dry leaves forming conspicuous skirt around trunk. Leaves: sheath fibers soft; petiole split at base, conspicuously armed with teeth along margins, sometimes unarmed in tall plants; abaxial hastula absent; adaxial hastula irregularly shaped, margin becoming tattered, fibrous; costa prominent; blade costapalmate; plication induplicate; segments lanceolate, basally connate, bearing fibers between segments; apices 2-cleft or irregularly tattered into fibers. Inflorescences axillary within crown of leaves, paniculate, arching well beyond leaves, with 2 orders of branching; prophyll leathery; rachis bracts very conspicuous, tubular at base, distally flattened and leathery, long; rachillae glabrous. Flowers bisexual, borne singly along rachillae, short pedicellate; perianth 2-seriate; calyx cupulate, 3-lobed, apices and margins irregular; petals 3, long, chaffy, basally connate into tube; stamens 6, adnate briefly to petals; pistils 3, distinct basally, glabrous; styles connate, slender, long; stigma inconspicuous. Fruits drupes, blackish, ellipsoid; exocarp smooth; mesocarp thin, fleshy; endocarp thin. Seeds ellipsoid; endosperm homogeneous; embryo basal; eophyll undivided, lanceolate. n = 18.

Distribution

w North America, nw Mexico

Discussion

The two species are easy to distinguish when cultivated side by side, but they are sometimes difficult to identify from herbarium specimens. Analysis of flavonoids (S. Zona and R. Scogin 1988) can reliably distinguish the two species.

Species 2 (2 in the flora).

Key

1 Trunk greater than 100 cm diam. Washingtonia filifera
1 Trunk less than 80 cm diam. Washingtonia robusta
... more about "Washingtonia"
irregularly--shaped +
dorsifixed +  and basifixed +
3-lobed +, tattered +  and 2-cleft +
Scott Zona +
H. Wendland +
cupulate +
Fan palm +  and palmier evantail de Californie +
w North America +  and nw Mexico +
osseous +, leathery +  and papery +
lanceolate +
fFor George Washington, 1732–1799, American patriot and first president of the United States +
adnate +, connate +  and distinct +
adnate +, connate +  and distinct +
berrylike +  and drupaceous +
apical +  and basal +
branched +  and spicate +
2-pinnate +  and pinnate +
marcescent +
3-lobed +  and tattered +
bearing prickles or marginal teeth +  and unarmed +
ridged +, channeled +  and terete +
unarmed +  and armed +
v--shaped +  and tent--shaped +
germination +
Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) +
flattened +  and tubular +
bailey1936a +  and zona1988a +
adventitious +
adhering to endocarp +  and free +
ellipsoid +
bearing prickles +  and unarmed +
lanceolate +
connate +  and distinct +
conspicuous +
covered with fibrous or prickly remains +  and smooth +
subterranean +
massive +
inconspicuous +
slender +
Neowashingtonia +
Washingtonia +
Arecaceae (tribe Corypheae) subtribe Livistoninae +
unbranched +  and branched +
unisexual +  and bisexual +