Botanical name: Washingtonia filifera    Family: Arecaceae (Palm family)

California fan Palm is a palm native to the desert oases of Central, southern and southwestern Arizona, southern Nevada, extreme northwest Mexico and inland deserts of southern California. It grows up to 23 m (exceptionally 30 m) tall in good growing conditions. The leaves have stalks up to 2 m long, bearing orange colored prickles. The leaves consist of a fan of leaflets 1.5-2 m long, with white, thread-like fibers between the segments. When the leaves die they bend downwards and form a skirt around the trunk. The shelter that the skirt creates provides a microhabitat for many invertebrates. California Fan Palm can live from 80 to 250 years or more and its genus name honors George Washington, the first President of the United States.

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The flower labeled California Fan Palm is ...