P18989HP
Fig. 27.—A formal planting on a city street. Palms with interplantings. Redlands, Calif., in midsummer.
The Victoria palmetto[66] is another hardy species, probably a native of Mexico, but grown for many years at Victoria, Tex. It is similar to the native Texas species and worthy of general planting in the same region. A feature of this species is that the persistent leaf bases remain alive and green for many years instead of turning yellow or brown, as in the Carolina palmetto.
[66] Cook, O. F. A new ornamental palmetto in southern Texas. In U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Cir. 113, p. 11-14. 1913.
WASHINGTONIA PALM.
Washingtonia palms are a very conspicuous feature of street and ornamental planting in southern California. Two species are represented, Washingtonia filifera Wendland and W. robusta Wendland. The first is a native of the canyons and barren slopes that surround the Coachella Valley of southern California, while the other species probably was brought by way of the Isthmus of Panama from the region of San Jose del Cabo, the extremity of Lower California, in the early days of travel. The name robusta alludes to the fact that this species grows much more rapidly in height than W. filifera, though the trunk is more slender. Both species are hardy and thrive well through regions 2, 3, and 5, and also in regions 12 and 13. Washingtonia robusta requires less heat than W. filifera, but both will endure several degrees of frost. Even in California Washingtonia robusta is distinctly preferable for localities near the coast. In the vicinity of San Diego the leaves of Washingtonia filifera become badly infested with a parasitic fungus that does not attack Washingtonia robusta.
OTHER HARDY FAN PALMS.
The species most commonly used for street and ornamental planting in the California coast districts is the Chinese or windmill palm.[67] This palm has a slender trunk clothed with brown fibers, flat fan-shaped leaves, and rather straight radiating segments. The same species is hardy at New Orleans and Charleston, and even at Laurens, S. C., at an altitude of 600 feet, but it does not thrive in the sandy soil of Florida.
[67] Trachycarpus excelsa (Thunb.) Wendl.
The vegetable hair palm,[68] a native of Spain, Sicily, and North Africa, is similar to the Chinese palm but smaller and more compact and with large, sharp spines on the petioles of the leaves. When young it suckers from the base, like the date palm, so that clusters of it may be formed.