Native Palms
Native California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) can be found tucked away in a few narrow, rugged canyons in the Kofa Mountains. - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona.
About the Palms:
California fan palms are probably descendants of palms that grew in this region during the last periods of North American glaciation. Some botanists theorize that the trees gradually spread into these canyons and other protected niches as the climate warmed to desert conditions. Other researchers have suggested that the trees may have been spread from other palm groves by birds or coyotes carrying seeds in their digestive tracts.
Since palm trees do not produce annual growth rings like shade trees, it is very difficult to say how old the trees might be. In Palm Canyon, the palm trees are able to survive the in the narrow side canyons where direct sunlight is limited but some moisture is available. The probability of these trees surviving very long is directly dependent on the microclimate in that protected canyon. - from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service web site.
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Native Palms
Native California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) can be found tucked away in a few narrow, rugged canyons in the Kofa Mountains. - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona.
About the Palms:
California fan palms are probably descendants of palms that grew in this region during the last periods of North American glaciation. Some botanists theorize that the trees gradually spread into these canyons and other protected niches as the climate warmed to desert conditions. Other researchers have suggested that the trees may have been spread from other palm groves by birds or coyotes carrying seeds in their digestive tracts.
Since palm trees do not produce annual growth rings like shade trees, it is very difficult to say how old the trees might be. In Palm Canyon, the palm trees are able to survive the in the narrow side canyons where direct sunlight is limited but some moisture is available. The probability of these trees surviving very long is directly dependent on the microclimate in that protected canyon. - from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service web site.
© All Rights Reserved