38 BULLETIIsr 816, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 



from the region of San Jose del Cabo, the extremity of Lower Cah- 

 fornia, in the early days of travel. The name rohusta 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. WasMngtonia rohusta requires less heat than W.Jllifera, 

 but both will endure several degrees of frost. Even in Cahfornia 



WasMngtonia rohusta is distinctly preferable for locahties near the 

 coast. In the vicinity of San Diego the leaves of WasMngtonia filifera 

 become badly infested with a parasitic fungus that does not attack 



WasMngtonia rohusta. 



OTHER HARDY FAN PALMS. 



The species most commonly used for street and ornamental plant- 

 ing in the California coast districts is the Chinese or windmill pahn.^ 

 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. 



The vegetable hair palm,^ a native of Spain, Sicily, and North 

 Africa, is similar to the Chinese pahn 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. 



The Guadeloupe Island pahn^ is one of the most popular species 

 in southern California in the region of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, 

 and San Diego. This palm is a native of Guadeloupe Island, off 

 the coast bf lower California, and is not known to occur elsewhere in 

 the wild state. It is well adapted to the cool coast climate of Cali- 

 fornia, but not to the interior vaUeys. It is smaller than the Wash- 

 ingtonia pahns, with a rather short trunk, 15 to 20 feet high, and a 

 dense crown of fresh green leaves. 



The California blue pahn,* formerly placed in the same genus with 

 the Guadeloupe Island species, is very distinct in habits as well as in 

 general appearance, having bluish or grayish green leaves, strongly 

 toothed petioles, and long, slender inflorescences. The trunk is 

 very robust, often 2 to 3 feet in diameter, and is said to attain a 

 height of 30 to 40 feet in Mexico. Several of these features are shared 

 with the Washingtonia palms. It also has the ability to grow in the 

 dry, hot interior valleys (regions 3 and 5). In Texas the blue pakn 

 has proved hardy at San Antonio, and even as far north as Austin. 



1 Trachycarpus excelsa (Thunb.) Wendl. 



2 Chamaerops humilis L. 



3 Erythea edulis (H. Wendl.) S. Wats. 



* Glaucothea armata (formerly known as Erythea armata). See Cook, O. F., Glaucothea, a new genus of 

 palms from Lower California. In Jour. Washington Acad. Sei., v. 5, p. 236-241. 1915. 



