Do Mexican Fan Palms (or palms of the Washingtonia) grow naturally in Arizona? (Or the southwest US)

[PindoPalm]

I have noticed especially in spring many fan palms especially of the Washingtonia family start sprouting and growing without any help. Do they naturally grow in the southwest US? Just a question that popped in my head since they grow frequently in my yard in clumps of 20-30 or even more in spring.

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, PalmLover69 said:

I have noticed especially in spring many fan palms especially of the Washingtonia family start sprouting and growing without any help. Do they naturally grow in the southwest US? Just a question that popped in my head since they grow frequently in my yard in clumps of 20-30 or even more in spring.

There are a couple documented groves of CA. Fans / Washingtonia filifera  in AZ..  How they arrived / how long they have been here -naturally- is a bit debated.. W. robustra ( Mex. Fan ) isn't native to the state,  but is native not too far south of the border.. Is possible it did grow here, at some time in the past.

Other than that,  ..all our regionally native Brahea sps,  and Sabal uresana  come from the other half of the Southwest, N. and W. Mexico, west of the Sierra Madre Occidental / Sur  ..and Baja.

In all areas of the N. American Southwest, our native palms will experience a growth spurt as winter ends / spring starts ..esp if it has been a wet winter.  Once Fore-summer sets in, growth slows ( ...But doesn't stop ) ..until Monsoon season arrives.

With cultivated specimens,  growth can continue at a pretty good clip through the pre- monsoon / fore summer season, if they are irrigated.

[Palmfarmer]

9 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

There are a couple documented groves of CA. Fans / Washingtonia filifera  in AZ..  How they arrived / how long they have been here -naturally- is a bit debated.. W. robustra ( Mex. Fan ) isn't native to the state,  but is native not too far south of the border.. Is possible it did grow here, at some time in the past.

Other than that,  ..all our regionally native Brahea sps,  and Sabal uresana  come from the other half of the Southwest, N. and W. Mexico, west of the Sierra Madre Occidental / Sur  ..and Baja.

In all areas of the N. American Southwest, our native palms will experience a growth spurt as winter ends / spring starts ..esp if it has been a wet winter.  Once Fore-summer sets in, growth slows ( ...But doesn't stop ) ..until Monsoon season arrives.

With cultivated specimens,  growth can continue at a pretty good clip through the pre- monsoon / fore summer season, if they are irrigated.

Interesting I wonder if any palms have naturalized in southern spain as well seeing how many they have planted out. 

[ahosey01]

On 3/27/2024 at 11:45 PM, PindoPalm said:

I have noticed especially in spring many fan palms especially of the Washingtonia family start sprouting and growing without any help. Do they naturally grow in the southwest US? Just a question that popped in my head since they grow frequently in my yard in clumps of 20-30 or even more in spring.

Go see the grove in Palm Canyon in Kofa NWA.  It's awesome.

[iko.]

On 3/28/2024 at 2:09 PM, Palmfarmer said:

Interesting I wonder if any palms have naturalized in southern spain as well seeing how many they have planted out. 

No need to go too far south. Washingtonia Robusta is quite a pest in certain areas in Eastern Spain. They multiply easily in abandoned orange orchards and create dense colonies along Ligustrum trees, another ornamental excessively planted by councils, Lantana and Lonicera. After some years, the land occupied by old orchards and now forest of tall Washingtonia palms gets re-zoned, all vegetation destroyed and they build apartments.

Phoenix canariensis grows well and randomly too in areas with ground water. And I have heard, Trachycarpus fortunei has naturalised in areas of Catalonia and Northern Spain. 

[Harry’s Palms]

Washingtonia seem to be everywhere here. They can pop up in just about any flower bed or yard, even cracks in sidewalks. I’m not sure if they are technically native plants but I consider them native. I have at least a couple every year that sprout in my garden. I have one large Robusta down at the bottom of my hill and that one sprouted in one of my neighborhood friends yard many years ago. I am about an hour north of Los Angeles. Harry

[Palmfarmer]

On 4/25/2024 at 4:09 PM, iko. said:

No need to go too far south. Washingtonia Robusta is quite a pest in certain areas in Eastern Spain. They multiply easily in abandoned orange orchards and create dense colonies along Ligustrum trees, another ornamental excessively planted by councils, Lantana and Lonicera. After some years, the land occupied by old orchards and now forest of tall Washingtonia palms gets re-zoned, all vegetation destroyed and they build apartments.

Phoenix canariensis grows well and randomly too in areas with ground water. And I have heard, Trachycarpus fortunei has naturalised in areas of Catalonia and Northern Spain. 

South has a lot of Phoenix Datilera, maybe they have naturalized there 

[njpalmguy]

On 3/28/2024 at 12:45 AM, PindoPalm said:

I have noticed especially in spring many fan palms especially of the Washingtonia family start sprouting and growing without any help. Do they naturally grow in the southwest US? Just a question that popped in my head since they grow frequently in my yard in clumps of 20-30 or even more in spring.

they are native to southern Cali and southern nevada. probably also native to  parts of Arizona

[Phoenikakias]

On 4/26/2024 at 1:09 AM, iko. said:

No need to go too far south. Washingtonia Robusta is quite a pest in certain areas in Eastern Spain. They multiply easily in abandoned orange orchards and create dense colonies along Ligustrum trees, another ornamental excessively planted by councils, Lantana and Lonicera. After some years, the land occupied by old orchards and now forest of tall Washingtonia palms gets re-zoned, all vegetation destroyed and they build apartments.

Phoenix canariensis grows well and randomly too in areas with ground water. And I have heard, Trachycarpus fortunei has naturalised in areas of Catalonia and Northern Spain. 

I have also seen in Greece Phoenix canariensis and Washingtonia survive and multiply in seasonally arid areas but very intriguingly not the native P theophrasti. Latter's seedlings need a certain amount of soil moisture all the time, otherwise they wilt and die readily.

[MJSanDiego]

There is some misinformation in this thread. Washingtonia Robusta, aka Mexican Fan Palm is not native to Southern California or Southern Nevada or Arizona or anywhere in the USA. It is native to the Baja California peninsula and Mexico. The only palm native to California, Nevada and Arizona is Washingtonia Filifera, a.k.a. California Fan Palm, a similar looking palm but in reality palm enthusiasts know it is quite different from the Robusta

[sonoranfans]

On 4/25/2024 at 7:15 PM, Harry’s Palms said:

Washingtonia seem to be everywhere here. They can pop up in just about any flower bed or yard, even cracks in sidewalks. I’m not sure if they are technically native plants but I consider them native. I have at least a couple every year that sprout in my garden. I have one large Robusta down at the bottom of my hill and that one sprouted in one of my neighborhood friends yard many years ago. I am about an hour north of Los Angeles. Harry

Filiferas are likely native to arizona as well as california, robustas are not native to either state but grow readily in both states.  Old fossils of filifera in arizona say they go back a long way.

[MJSanDiego]

On 4/25/2024 at 4:15 PM, Harry’s Palms said:

Washingtonia seem to be everywhere here. They can pop up in just about any flower bed or yard, even cracks in sidewalks. I’m not sure if they are technically native plants but I consider them native. I have at least a couple every year that sprout in my garden. I have one large Robusta down at the bottom of my hill and that one sprouted in one of my neighborhood friends yard many years ago. I am about an hour north of Los Angeles. Harry

Definitely not native. Native to Baja California peninsula and Mexico only. Since they've been naturalized so long in the southwest, they are often mistaken as native but it's the Washingtonia Filifera that is the native one

[jwitt]

On 8/6/2024 at 9:41 PM, njpalmguy said:

they are native to southern Cali and southern nevada. probably also native to  parts of Arizona

Actually filifera was discovered and grown from seed from Arizona in 1876, 38 miles from Prescott (Castle Creek).

https://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant html files/washingtonia_filifera.htm

[Harry’s Palms]

On 8/7/2024 at 1:05 PM, MJSanDiego said:

Definitely not native. Native to Baja California peninsula and Mexico only. Since they've been naturalized so long in the southwest, they are often mistaken as native but it's the Washingtonia Filifera that is the native one

Thank you for the clarity . I wasn’t sure as i was just going by observation . Naturalized is a much better term. Migration of plants has been going on for ages due to human influence as well as birds and climate events.