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| Online Flora of the Maltese Islands by Stephen Mifsud |
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Washingtonia filifera (California Fan Palm) |
Washingtonia filifera (ARECACEAE.)
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.
Website launch: Oct-2002
Taxonomic update: Aug-2026
Code update: Jul-2026 |
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| Nomenclature and General Information |
Species name : |
Washingtonia filifera(T.Moore & Mast.) H.Wendl. ex de Bary
Published in Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 37: LXI (1879) |
Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.) |
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Plant Family : |
Arecaceae Schultz Sch. (The Palm Family) Previously included in Palmae
5 species from the Arecaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands. | English name(s) : | California Fan Palm, Desert Fan Palm, Cotton Palm |
Maltese name(s) : |
Palma tal-imrewħa Messikana |
Status for Malta : |
Naturalised Alien. Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 (Columbus' discovery of the New World)
and spreads and integrates to form established, non-invasive populations.
Species may become become invasive if it widespreads rapidly. |
Frequency : |
Very Common Common Frequent Scarce Rare Very rare Extinct |
Growth form : |
Germination type [info]: Monocotyledon
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Macro-Phanerophyte ( high trees usually over 5 m high ) |
Legal Protection : |
Not legally protected till the last update of this website (22/Aug/2025) |
Red List (1989) : |
Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands |
Flowering Time : |
June – September |
Colour of Flowers: |
Inconspicuous |
Toxicity: |
Not particularly toxic |
Name Derivation : |
Washingtonia: ()
filifera: ()
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Planting in rural areas : |
Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines |
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Description, Habitat and Distribution | |
Botanical Description |
Monoecious tree, reaching up to 20 m in height, characteristically palm-like in appearance, with a broad canopy. Trunk uniform in diameter and slightly widened at the base, 50-120 cm across, excluding the persistent petiole bases of pruned leaves or entire dead leaves, which naturally remain attached and droop from the upper third of the trunk. Crown open but dense, typically forming a rounded to spherical outline unless pruned.
Leaves fan-shaped, glabrous, green with a slight greyish hue, composed of 60-75 linear, pleated segments fused for approximately one-half to two-thirds of their length, then free as slender, acuminate lobes. The free portions are usually drooping or pendulous and bear long, curly, pale-yellow filaments along the margins and within the sinuses between adjacent segments.
Petiole plano-convex, robust, fibrous-woody, and smooth, armed along the margins with incurved, hard, yellowish to amber-brown spinose teeth, and terminating in a triangular-rhomboid hastula; usually glabrous in pure forms.
Inflorescences pendulous, spiciform to narrowly paniculate racemes, extending well beyond the leaves. Flowers white, shortly pedicellate to subsessile, trimerous, composed of a three-lobed campanulate calyx and a papery corolla with three petals fused at the base, 6-8 mm long. Stamens 6, exserted beyond the perianth, with versatile pinkish-cream anthers about 2 mm long.
Fruit blackish-brown, spherical and somewhat laterally compressed, approximately 8 × 6 mm, hard at maturity. (by Stephen Mifsud) | |
Habitat in Europe |
Data will be available in the next update of this website.
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Preferred habitat in Malta |
Ornamental tree commonly seen as an embellishment along streets, parking lots and traffic islands as well in parks and public gardens but also found naturalised in suitable natural habitats such as in abandoned fields, wasteground, garigue and valleys
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Chromosome number(s) |
2n=36 | |
Native region outside Europe |
S. California
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Distributional maps from various sources |
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Occurrences in Europe
(from Euro+Med Checklist till 2024)
Country codes
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[cAE ?Ca(C) cCo cCr nCt aCy cGa(F) cGr pHs(S) Ir aIt Jo cLS aSa nSi(S) cSn cTu(A)]
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| Links & Further literature
(0 papers) |
Google Web |
Google Images |
Google Scholar |
Research Gate |
Wikipedia |
JSTOR |
GBIF |
Med Checklist |
Cat. of Life |
EoL |
IPNI |
World Flora Online |
Plants of the World Online |
Vienna Virt. Herb. |
RBGE Herbarium |
KEW Herbarium |
MNHN |
Garden Database |
IUCN |
TROPICOS |
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local
studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.
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Sales and Donations
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Sales of seeds of wild plant from Malta: Seeds of selected wild plant species may be available for academic studies, research purposes, or personal use. Please note that not all species can be supplied or exported. Availability is subject to seasonal seed production, stock levels, and applicable regulations, including Maltese legislation and CITES requirements where relevant. Protected and endemic species cannot be sold (at least without the relevant environmental permits).
How it works: First, submit a quotation request by completing the Online Quotation Form (link provided on the right side of this table). Once your request has been reviewed, you will receive confirmation regarding seed availability, export eligibility (where applicable), pricing, and any transport charges. Payments are accepted by Revolut, bank transfer (IBAN), or PayPal only; credit and debit card payments are not accepted.
Please note that local orders are currently not being accepted. Seek Maltese nurseries and NGOs for local orders.
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Online Quotation (Seeds)
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Online Purchase (Images)
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Atlas Flora Europaea
GBIF Distribution Map
WFO Distribution map
