WASHINGTONIA 



WATER ALOE 



3507 



Banning, Riverside County, California. This is the 

 largest group of indigenous fan palms in the United 

 States, and the only grove of important size on the 

 Pacific side of the United States. The grove contains 

 thousands of trees, some of them nearly 100 feet high. 

 There are many young ones of all sizes and the older 

 trees are still vigorous. Most of the canons of the 

 desert bases of San Jacinto, accoroling to Parish, con- 

 tain these palms; and a few grow in the canon of the 

 White Water River, which is the western limit of the 

 species. The southern limit is probably Carrizo Creek, 

 San Diego County, and the northern at Corn Springs 

 in San Bernardino County. Except in trees protected 

 in cultivation, old specimens are rarely seen bearing the 

 great shaggy mass of dead hanging leaves, for they are 

 burned off by Indians or take fire by accident; even in 

 cultivated trees, the mane is usually cut away to give 

 the plants a neater appearance but much of the char- 

 acteristic beauty of the palm is then lost. Parish writes 

 that "the functional life of a leaf is about one year. 

 How long the dead leaves would remain attached to the 

 trunk if undisturbed cannot be stated; probably for a 

 very long period." 



The washingtonias are much planted in California, 

 thriving even in the climate about San Francisco Bay. 

 In southern California they attain great size and com- 

 prise a characteristic feature of the landscape. They 

 grow readily from seeds, but the trunks rise slowly. 

 Two species are commonly planted, W. filifera var. 

 robusta, with leaves bearing many filaments or threads 

 on the edges and in the sinuses, and W. gracilis which is 

 practically devoid of filaments. 



A. Petiole prolonged into the blade with an 



acuminate point. 

 B. Blade of If. abundantly supplied with 



threads or filaments filifera 



BB. Blade nearly or quite destitute of 



filaments or threads gracilis 



AA. Petiole obtuse at its top where it joins 



the blade Sonorae 



filifera, Wendl. (Brdhea filamentdsa, Hort. B. filif- 

 era, Hort. Pritchdrdia filamentdsa, Wendl. P. filifera, 

 Hort.) . Margins of the petioles armed up to the middle 

 or somewhat beyond with stout hooked spines, but 

 naked above: st. cylindrical, 20-40 ft., enlarged at the 

 base (2-3 ft.), covered with persistent petiole-bases: 

 petioles 2-5 ft. long, 1-2 }/ in. wide at the summit, 

 glabrous, plano-convex; ligule large, glabrous, lacerate; 

 blade circular, tomentose on the margins of the many 

 segms., 3-5 ft. diam., cleft on the upper side nearly to 

 the middle, gray-green; segms. margined with numer- 

 ous fibers 6-12 in. long: seed flattened on the raphal 

 face. Probably S. Calif, and W. Ariz. Cult, on the 

 Riviera, S. France, but not distinguished in this 

 country. 



Var. robusta, Parish (W. robusta, Wendl. W. 

 filifera, Hort., not Wendl. Neowashingibnia filamentdsa, 

 Sudw.). Fig. 3997. The palm usually cult, in this 

 country as W. filifera, whereas the one cult, as W. 

 robusta is really W. gracilis: margins of petiole armed 

 throughout: trunk stout, enlarged at base, 60-90 ft. 

 tall: petioles stout and erect until old, 3-5 ft. long, the 

 upper surface concave; ligule paper-like, acuminate 

 and torn; If .-blade 3-5 ft. across, with 60-70 folds, cleft 

 two-thirds to the base, the margins with abundant 

 threads: panicle declined, exceeding the Ivs., the infl. 

 dense, but in fr. becoming diffuse or open: fls. with 

 heavy odor: seed excavated on raphal face. Borders of 

 the Colorado Desert in S. Calif., at low altitudes. 

 The commonly planted Washingtonia in Calif, with 

 filiferous Ivs. The portraits in horticultural magazines 

 are mostly not clearly referable. 



Var. microsperma, Becc. Cult, in the Riviera but yet 

 undiscovered in the wild, differing in smaller stature, and 

 222 



margins of petioles armed only at base: seed flattened 

 on raphal face. 



gracilis, Parish (W. robusta, Hort., not Wendl.). A 

 slender-trunked palm, to 80 ft. or so, the Ivs. nearly or 

 quite destitute of filaments: petioles 2-3 ft. long, 

 rather convex on upper surface, the hard margins 

 armed with short yellow hooked spines for the entire 

 length, the top acuminate where it joins the blade; 

 ligule paper-like, narrow, entire; If .-blade about 3 ft. 

 diam., with 75-80 folds, cleft little more than one-third 

 toward base: peduncle declined, exceeding the Ivs.: fls. 

 nearly sessile: seed broad-ovate, about J^in. long, some- 

 what rugose or wrinkled on the raphal face. Probably 

 native in northern Low. Calif. From the W. filifera 

 group this tree is distinguished by its slender trunk, 

 smaller and less deeply divided shorter-stalked Ivs. 

 which bear no filaments or threads except now and then 

 one in the sinuses of some of the folds. 



3997. Old tree of Washingtonia filifera var. robusta. 



Son&rae, Wats. (Neowashingtonia Sondrae, Rose). 

 Top of petiole obtuse where it joins the blade, the 

 latter abundantly supplied with filaments: st. 25 ft. 

 high, 1 ft. diam.: Ivs. 3^4 ft. diam., somewhat glau- 

 cous, very filiferous; petioles 3 ft. long, very slender, 

 2 in. wide at base, %in. at apex, floccose-hairy along 

 the margins and with stout curved spines: fr. J^in. 

 long, edible. Guyamas and Low. Calif., Mex. Yet 

 imperfectly known in cult. L jj g + 



WATER ALOE : Strotiotes oloides. W. Arum : A name sometimes 

 applied to CaUa polustris. W. Beech: Carpinus caroliniana. W. 

 Caltrops, or Water Chestnut: Trapa natans. W. Chinkapin, or 

 Chinquapin: \elumbo luiea. W.-Cress: Cress and Roripa Nastur- 

 tium. W. Hyacinth: Eichhomia. W.-Leaf: Hydrophyttum. W. 

 Lemon: Passiflora laurifolia. W.-Lettuce: Pistia Stratiotes. W.- 

 Lily: Nymphsea. W. Milfoil: Myriophyllum. W. Oak: Quercus 

 nigra. commonly known as Q. aquatica. W. Oat: Zizania. palus- 



