The immediate effect of fire on an individual California palm varies according to the tree's fire history. The trunk may be repeatedly burned as leaves in the crown detach and slide down the trunk, ringing the base with fresh fuel. Subsequent fires burn lesser amounts of the trunk because the shag, previously removed by fire, requires a number of years to regain thickness and length. No data are available on the effects of fire on seedlings. Fire releases saplings suppressed by the shade of shrubs.
Fire is an essential element of California palm regneration and oasis maintenence.
Fire suppression, practiced in many oases for over 60 years, has resulted in dense understories of brush and young palms. The Thousand Palms Oasis, for example, located in the Colorado Desert, California, developed very little understory for 10 to 15 years following its last fire. Saltgrass was the understory pioneer. After 35 years of fire suppression the oasis supported a dense, tall undergrowth with a humid microclimate. California palm's ability to resist fire under such highly flammable conditions is unknown.