A - Palms of Santa Cruz County

Found a palm and not sure it's name? Scan through this following images to find the one that looks right.

You first want to look at the type of leaf, whether palmate or pinnate.

Palms with Palmate Leaves

Brahea armata	Brahea edulis
Trachycarpus fortunei	Washingtonia filifera
Washingtonia robusta

Palms with Pinnate Leaves

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana	Butia capitata
Howea fosteriana	Jubaea chilensis
Phoenix canariensis	Phoenix dactylifera
Phoenix reclinata	Rhopalostylis baueri
Syagrus romanzoffiana

Washingtonia filifera - California Fan Palm

The California native fan palm is such a cool palm tree and its too bad that we are just a bit north and close to the coast for these to grow really well. Growing to 50 feet in its native habitat ours are likely to be about 30 tall and 10 wide. Trunks are often appearing wider with the skirt of old foliage. These in the picture are not all there anymore, someone redid the landscape and pulled out all but three trees. Ouch.

Heads are thin, usually fewer leaves than the mexican fan palm, and should have lots of old leaves attached.

Leaves evergreen, palm shaped, grey-green in color, 12 or so feet long counting the petiole, the fan part about 5 to 6' diameter. Leaf segments dividing about half way to the base of the leaf. Leaf edges usually showing lots of white fibers, hence the filifera, more so than W. robusta and the tips of the leaflets weeping downward.

Trunks are very stout, thick, and almost cylindrical to the ground, sort of like the Chilean Palm and very unlike the Mexican Fan Palm. 2-3 feet wide if the skirt has been removed.

These show the persistent leaves very typical of the species. Located at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden.

Flowers in august, but I have never seen them do so.

Misidentification:
Washingtonia robusta has a much thinner stem, more leaves in the head and less "thread" from the leaf margins, though that is hard to see at 40-50' in the air. Picture below shows 2 robustas (tall and far right and the filifera on the left.

Location:
Santa Cruz
On the three way corner of Chico/Auburn/Modesto only 3 left, better hurry

There are several on Morrissey Drive interplanted with Washingtonia robusta.
From the highway towards Soquel Dr. 462, 439, 428, 433, 331, 230

Archontophoenix cunninghamiana - King Palm

The king palm is a beautiful but less commonly seen than the common queen palm. I think they have a "cleaner" look to them, not sure why. Plants can get 50 plus feet but from what I have seen they are going to be around 30 here. Generally found as house plants though I have seen several houses with more than a half dozen planted. Since writing this they are showing up in many updated landscapes.

Leaves are large, 12-15' long, with 70-90 pinnae per side of the rachis dark green on the upper surface grayish green on the lower.  They are stiffer than the queen palm and arise from a smoothcrown shaft. The crownshaft is the base of the leaves where they attach to the stem.

Flowers are cool, though my neighbor hates them and usually cuts them off. Male and female flowers on the same stalk, males on the ends. The inflorescence bursts though the smooth crownshaft of the old leaf on the stem. Purplish color.

Misidentification:
Look for the smooth crownshaft - on the queen palm its rough, the leaves are stiffer, fewer in number, looks more like an areca palm leaf.

Location
Aptos
410 Gay Rd

Capitola
4957 Garnet

Live Oak
3636 Flora has several, along with queen palms for comparison, and across the street is a Queen Palm and a Canary Island palm.

3000 Pleasure Point Drive are a couple of small ones. Look at the Phoenix reclinata while there.

Santa Cruz
254 San Juan Ave, also has Syagrus

Phoenix reclinata - Senegal Date Palm

The Senegal Date Palm is a clumping palm capable of reaching 45' but more likely 25' here. These palms have thin stems and short leaves and a head with 20-40 leaves. Because the palms are clumping the stems tend to bend away from the others giving it the name reclinata. They have a real tropical look to them and the fruit show put on is something to see.

The pinnate dark green leaves are short ranging from 6-10' long with short leaflets and very sharp spines at the base of the leaves (very typical of Phoenix species). They have a sideways curve to them.

As I mentioned, the stems at the base of the palm are thin, but appear thicker near the crown because you are seeing leaf bases still attached.

Plants are dioecious, male and female plants.

Young fruit cluster forming in middle December along the coast.

Large specimen from The Huntington Collection.

Misidentification:

Not likely, very thin and tall, short leaves clumping habit

Location:

3024 Pleasure Point Drive (There is also a large Erythrina to the left of the driveway)

Santa Cruz

119 Effey St. is a large planting.

Rhopalostylis baueri - Norfolk Island Palm

An unbelievably beautiful plant, I love this palm. The first time I saw Rhopalosytlis was at the Strybing Arboretum. I came around this little path and pow, right into a grove of young palms.  Okay, It's actually a different species, R. sapida but who cares! 

The Norfolk Island Palm or (Naiu) grows as a solitary stem up to 30' (nice big ones at Strybing arboretum) with a beautiful smooth stem and green crown shaft.

Trunks hold the foliage very tightly spaced creating a dense head.

The leaves are pinnate, stiff, dark green, erect, V shaped, up to 9' long and 2-3' long leaflets. There is a short petiole (clear area with no leaflets). On young plants the foliage is shorter and much more upright.

I really like a palm with distinct crown shaft.

Male and female flowers on the same inflorescence coming out of the stem under or out of the crown shaft. You can see the start of the inflorescence below.

Almost smooth stem when older. I love this trunk.

Misidentification:
If you see more than one of these let me know, according to Luen Miller of Monterey Bay Nursery, it differs from the other species P. sapida by wider angled fronds. Other reference suggest R. baueri  has a less swollen crown shaft and a short petiole where R. sapida has none.

Location
4100 Opal Cliff Dr (Almost all of these plants are gone after a remodel to an ugly house.)
Along with Pindo Palm, a cool cycad, pygmy date palms, queen palms

Aptos

Cabrillo College Horticulture garden, by the entry gate to your right. From Luen Miller at Monterey Bay Nursery. Next to it is another donation from Luen - Trachycarpus takil. 
There are a few  Rhopalosytlis in the New Zealand garden at the Arboretum of UCSC.

Butia capitata - Pindo Palm

The Pindo Palm (Jelly Palm) is a pretty common sight in our county and I am glad because it provides a nice palm with the blue foliage that I like. They grow as solitary stem to about 20' in our area but maybe to 35' elsewhere.

Leaves are pinnate, 10-15' long, distinctly arched, V shaped in cross section (leaflets are sticking upright) usually bluish to silvery green colored. Very sharp modified leaflets along the leaf stalk.

Stems are covered with criss crossing leaf bases projecting from the stem at least 8" until very old then becoming smooth.

Flowers prolifically here, throwing up 3-5 spikes from woody bracts that look like boats. Flowers are unisexual but both on same inflorescence.

Fruit round, 1" orange and edible. These are not ripe yet.

Love the aloe with this palm - all spiky.

Misidentification
not sure, distinct pinnate palm with bluish and arching foliage, knobs on trunks.

Locations:

Aptos
7000 Soquel Drive in the thin planting strip
Twin Lakes Church sort of at the back with the school - near the Nursery school room.

Capitola
105 Wesley Street
4775 Opal Cliff Drive

Santa Cruz
126 Miles St

Phoenix dactylifera - Date Palm

The date palm, most likely from Iraq but has been an important food crop for a really long time over most of the middle east. And who doesn't like dates. This is also a great palm to line streets. Usually single trunked in landscapes, up to 70' and 30' wide. Literature suggests these are suckering palms, though I have only seen pictures of them doing so. Best seen in a bit warmer climates.

This one is at Cal Poly with an very full crown.

Leaves are 10-20' long, pinnate, with 150 - 12" long leaflets. Leaves tend to be more gray green than green and held upright and not strongly arching. The long sharp spines at the base of the leaf are modified leaflets.

Flowers are dioecious, males and female plants. Commercial orchards have one male per 20 or more females. Orange sprays as seen above.


Trunks are cool, obvious leaf scars forming a spiral pattern of knobs up the stem.

Misidentification:
Phoenix canariensis most likely. Typically thinner heads, fewer leaves more grey-green leaves and not as common. 

Location

Soquel

3430 Maplethorph Ln. Two nice old ones.

Santa Cruz 

Mission Plaza