Monday, December 23, 2013

Brahea edulis - Guadalupe Fan Palm

I like this little palm, it has great foliage, nice flowering spikes and the trunk is self cleaning.  Reportedly growing to 35' its likely to reach 20' with an almost equal spread in our area. Slow growing, so be patient or thankful it will not overpower your yard.The Guadalupe fan palm is also quite tolerant to cold temperatures, which is always interesting when a plant native to an island is cold hard.



Leaves are palmate, 8' long and almost as wide, relatively short petiole and smooth without long sharp spines. Medium green color.



Trunk is often described as elephant leg like, which is pretty good. The leaves are self shedding.



Plants are monoecious, the flowering stalk is long and arching, cream colored flowers.



Fruit is round, about an inch in diameter, turns black and produced in huge quantities.





Misidentification:
Looks a lot like a small Washingtonia but has no spines on the petiole.

Location:
Captiola
Corner of Monterey and Escalona are two, the don't like the palms to bloom unfortunately.