Palm trees have the elegance of simplicity: a powerful, or perhaps more graceful, trunk, crowned with a plume of attractive leaves that move in the breeze. Each species of palm has its own panache, a personality that makes it recognizable among the others. To the untrained eye, many of these plants will appear the same, but with a little attention, differences will emerge, noticeable, for example, in their trunk —correctly called stem—, each with its own shape and color different from the rest.
Washingtonia is one of the most cultivated palms in Spain and in the world. There are two species of this genus, although we will later see that its current classification is a little more complicated. We’ll talk about it Washingtonia filifera —with a wide stem and a height that usually does not exceed 20 meters—e Washingtonia robusta – with a slender, fine and very tall stem, which reaches up to 30 metres. Depending on the publications, the hybrid that emerged between these two species is sometimes called the so-called Washingtonia X obstructionism. All of these palms come from California, USA, and Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. In those lands, Washingtonias often appreciate the proximity of cacti of all types and varieties.
We tend to think that there is only one species, Washingtonia filiferawhich, in turn, has two main varieties: Washingtonia filifera var. robust (the tallest), e Washingtonia filifera var. filifera. A third variety that adds to these nonsense words grows in the Sonora region of Mexico: Washingtonia filifera var. sonidoe.
Its name does not derive from the state or city of Washington, but from the first president of the United States, George Washington (1732-1799), to whom this botanical genus was dedicated. Since in their native land they grow in a semi-arid climate, with enormous temperature variations throughout the year – from periods with night frosts to temperatures above 45°C in other periods -, they are palms with good resistance to both cold and heat.
So much so that, once settled, the Washingtonia are managed perfectly in a complete abandonment, and they know how to overcome both dry and harsh summers and, above all, low temperatures Washingtonia filifera —whose cultivation is more widespread in the inland areas of Spain with colder winters—, capable of withstanding frosts below -10 °C once well acclimatized to the place. Washingtonia robusta It is a little colder and temperatures below -5 °C can damage its tissues, also depending on the growing conditions.
Washingtonia leaves are palmate, palm-shaped, and you don’t realize their large size until one of the gardeners cuts one down, holds it to the ground, and appreciates its size up close. To give you an idea, the petiole that holds the leaf to the plant is usually over a meter in length. Precisely you have to be careful of that stalk, because it produces very ferocious spines for unsuspecting hands that grasp it. The bases of these petioles embrace the stem and surround it, a characteristic that becomes evident when the leaves are pruned and this brown and slightly reddish base appears.
Added to this uniqueness is the fact that the lower part of the stem of these palms has a very characteristic widening, which certainly gives them greater stability against attacks by the winds.
Another distinctive characteristic is precisely the one that gives them their botanical “surname”: filiferawhich means “yarn producer”. These threads can be seen all over its leaves, coming off in thin light ocher filaments along the edges of its leaflets, which are each of the leaf’s divisions.
Likewise, both species pile dry, brownish leaves against the stem, thus creating a beautiful Hawaiian-style skirt. It is customary to prune these dead leaves – which correspond to the oldest and lowest – to leave only the green and fresh ones; But keeping at least some of those withered leaves gives the Washingtonian a very nice identity, because brownish is not always unsightly when encouraging a taste for those tones.
Its flowering is a very beautiful sight, even if excessive attention is not paid to it. This indifference is also given by the height at which this show takes place, even tens of meters, far from the usual gaze of humans. Its long clusters of small, cream-colored flowers appear between late spring and mid-summer, then giving way to hundreds of seeds. These are surrounded by a light and sweet pulp, with a flavor similar to dates from the date palm (Dactyliferous phoenix).
The small seeds germinate beautifully, as evidenced by the large number of tiny washingtonias that usually grow near adult palms. On many occasions these seedlings germinate in the cracks in the pavements of the sidewalks and at the foot of the walls, when the seed falls into those propitiatory cracks so that they grow without anyone disturbing them. Thanks to its ease of germination – which will occur between one and two months after sowing – it is a nice job to do with children, both in the family and in class, in a simple pot. Then, a piece of America’s semi-desert regions will be at your fingertips.
