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Transient Transplants
By Jessica Renslow
Imagine a Southern California without palm trees. It is a difficult concept to conjure. Palms and Los Angeles are almost synonymous. Their zigzagging silhouettes represent for many the exotic Hollywood image.
Washingtonia Filifera, the Calif-ornia Fan Palm, is the only tree of this genus native to the Golden State. Almost as popular as the California Fan is its cousin, the Date Palm. European Missionaries first transplanted these frond-clad icons here in 1769. The back-story of the first urban palms in So Cal reads like a familiar Midwestern, tall tale. Just as the fabled Johnny Apple Seed of legend, travelers going through LA and its surrounding desert began inserting Fan Palms along sidewalks and in fruit groves in the 1800s.
By 1910, the affluent residents of Beverly Hills, Hancock Park and Santa Monica chose the impressive Canary Island Date Palm to represent the ritzier side of Los Angeles. While in preparation for the 1932 Olympics, city officials infiltrated Crenshaw with Date Palms. Where as, during the post World War II building boom, suburban contractors went for the lush color of King and Queen Palms to suit the ideal glow of their heyday.
Ironically, the famous uneven LA skyline, formed by a mix of basically California and Mexican fan palms, is mostly an accidental fluke. Unbek-nownst to them, the city founders planted both types of trees. (Mexican and Californian palm seedlings have a similar look.) Originally the planting scheme was aimed at bringing a sleek symmetry to the city. However, nearly a century after their planting, the slim Mexican palms stand side by side with their stockier Californian sisters.
Famous for hailing from the tropics many people are unaware of how hearty palms can be. They are pretty low maintenance and plagued by very few diseases/ insects. There are literally thousands of types of Palm Trees. So, which kinds are right for the Southern California area?
Over the course of time, the early founders of Los Angeles discovered that the Mexican Palm was better suited for surviving the dank pacific beach nights. So for homes closer to the sea, this is the palm that will last. Whereas, the Dwarf Palmetto (also known as Sabal Minor-Blue Palmetto) native to the Southeastern, United States, seaboard has not had much success as a So Cal transplant. One of the main reasons for this is that the species prefers shade.
The Sabal Palm, (commonly called by its nickname the Cabbage Palm) does well in salt water. It's incredibly tough and it can even handle the cold. Now, the heartiest of cold-tolerating palms is the Needle Palm. This species can survive in minus 20 degrees!
Those going for the tropical oasis look should plant the Canary Island Date Palm (also known vernacularly as Phoenix Canaries, or Majestic Palms). These trees grow to average about fifty feet with twenty-foot-long leaves. The species has long been a favorite in the American Southwest. The Mexican Palm accompanies the tropical scheme well. Its pretty evergreen-colored fronds and slender trunk adds variety to any Fantasy Island-themed yard.
Looking for a good indoor palm? Settle in on the Pygmy Date Palm. This species does well potted. It stays at a small scale and grows slowly. The Pygmy peaks usually around five feet. It's singled trunk and large, fan-like leaves lead it to be highly desired amongst the apartment set.
Many urban foresters are predicting that in a hundred years the Los Angeles skyline will most likely not have palms lining it. Why? With the popularity of Palms stretching out to the realm of Vegas, prices have risen past municipal budgets. With the original LA palms reaching the end of their life expectances, and no money to replace them, Southern California's signature icon may be verging on extinction. Perhaps in the relatively near future Los Angeles minus its palms will not just be a strange figment of the imagination.