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| ## fan palm {#fan-palm .Title-Header}                                 |
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| *Washingtonia filifera* (L. Linden) H. Wendl.                         |
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| Plant Symbol = WAFI                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

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###### Alternative Names

California fan palm

###### 

###### Use

*Ethnobotanic*: Palm oases were important habitation sites for the
Cahuilla and other tribes. The fan palm provided abundant fruit that was
relished by the Cahuilla. It was eaten fresh or dried in the sun and
then stored in ollas for future consumption. The seeds and flour were
pounded into a meal, mixed with other flours and water to a mush. A
beverage was made by soaking the fruit in water. Additionally, the
leaves were used for clothing, sandals, thatching, and basketry
materials, the fruit stalks for fire drills, and leafstalks for
household utensils. The Cahuilla, Diegueno, and Luiseno of southern
California used the leaves for matting, stuffing and in rough
ropemaking.

*Wildlife*: Hooded orioles nest in the tree canopies, constructing their
nests of palm frond fragments. The paper wasp often builds its nest on
the underside of a palm leaf and the western yellow bat roosts in fan
palms. Woodpeckers make their nests in dead palm trees, and their
cavities become home to a myriad of

birds in later years including house finches, American kestrels, and
owls.

###### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.78125in" height="2.34375in"}

###### Description

*General*: Palm family (Arecaceae). This tree has a thick, robust trunk
and achieves a height up to 20 m. The large tufts of leaves are
fan-shaped, fibrous, and gray green, and their spined petioles are 1-2
m. The blades are 1-2 m and are divided nearly to the middle. The many
white flowers are small and enclosed by a spathe. The black fruits are
oblong or ovate.

###### Distribution

For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site**.**

###### Establishment

*Adaptation*: This plant is found below 1200 m in groves, alkaline spots
of seeps, springs, and streams, on the west and north edge of the
Colorado Desert, Turtle Mountains, the Sonoran Desert, southeastern
Arizona, and northern Baja, California.

*Propagation by seed*: One can improve seed germination by collecting
seeds from coyote manure. Apparently germination is very high from seeds
which have passed through the animals\' digestive systems. Plant the
seeds in the spring in large pots, one-quarter inch apart in
well-drained, friable soil such as a mixture of sand, loam, and peat
moss or vermiculite and peat moss. Be patient, as the seeds take from
four to fifteen weeks to germinate. At the first true leaf stage, plant
the seedlings into separate one-gallon containers and hold until
out-planting. Seedlings should be sheltered from winds and major
temperature changes. When planting fan palm in a permanent location,
plant seedlings during the fall, in areas exposed to full sunlight. Fall
plantings must be watered during the following two summers if rainfall
is low.

###### Management 

The dead leaves that form a skirt should be removed periodically. Native
Americans historically and prehistorically enhanced palm populations
through firing palm stands and planting seeds. Palm stands were burned
to control infestations of the palm-boring beetle (*Dinapate wrightii*),
to improve access to the palms and their fruit by clearing underbrush,
and to increase the production and enhance the quality of fruit.
Furthermore, these fires encouraged seed production, increasing the
density of palms on favorable sites. Native Americans also acted as
dispersal agents, carrying seeds of palms, which are small and easy to
germinate, from one oasis to the next, extending the palm\'s range.

###### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Seeds and plants of selected *Washingtonia* cultivars are available from
many nurseries. It is best to plant species from your local area,
adapted to the specific site conditions where the plants are to be
grown. Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service
(formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for more information. Look
in the phone book under "United States Government." The Natural
Resources Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading
"Department of Agriculture."

###### References

Bean L.J. & K.S. Saubel 1972. *Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian knowledge and
usage of plants*. Malki Museum Press, Morongo Indian Reservation,
Banning, California.

Cornett, J.W. 1989a. *Desert palm oasis*. Palm Springs Desert Museum.
Companion Press, Santa Barbara, California.

Cornett, J.W. 1989b. *The desert fan palm\--Not a relict*. Abstract in
C.A. Warren and J.S. Schneider (eds.) *Mojave Desert Quaternary Research
Center.* Third Annual Symposium Proceedings, San Bernardino County
Museum Association.

Cornett, J.W. 1987a. *Indians and the desert fan palm*. Masterkey 12-17.

Cornett, J.W. 1987b. *A giant boring beetle*. Environment Southwest. No.
518:21-25.

Cornett, J.W. 1985. *Reading fan palms*. Natural History 94(10):64-73.

Mathewson, M.S. 1985*. Threads of life: Cordage and other fibers of the
California tribes.* Unpublished Senior Thesis. Department of
Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz,
California.

McClenaghan, L.R. & A.C. Beauchamp 1986. *Low genic differentiation
among isolated populations of the California fan palm (Washingtonia
filifera*). Evolution 40(2):315-322.

McClintock, E. 1978. *The Washington fan palm*. Fremontia 6:3-5.

McClintock, E. 1993. *Arecaceae.* Page 1105 IN: *The Jepson Manual:
Higher plants of California.* J.C. Hickman (ed.). University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

Nabhan, G.P. 1985. *The palm in our hands*. Pages 20-34 IN: *Gathering
the Desert*. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.

Schmidt, M.G. 1980*. Growing California native plants*. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California.

###### Prepared By

# *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

*Wayne Roderick*

Former Director of the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley,
California

###### Species Coordinator

# *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Sciences Department, University of California, Davis,
California

Revised: 19jun0200 jsp; 060818 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
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