Washingtonia
(so called after George Washington, the great American patriot). ORD. Palmae. A small genus (one or two species) of tall, greenhouse Palms, natives of South California and Arizona. Flowers white, hermaphrodite; spathes elongated, membranous, cut, glabrous; spadices elongated, copiously paniculate-branched, the branches slender and flexuous. Fruit black, small, ellipsoid, one-celled, one-seeded. Leaves terminal, ample, spreading, orbicular, flabellately plaited, cut nearly to the middle; the segments induplicate, with filiferous margins; petioles elongated, robust, flat-convex, the margins very spiny. For culture, see Chamaerops. W. filifera (thread-bearing).* fl. perfect, solitary, nearly sessile upon the slender branches of the panicle. l. circular, flabelli-form; petioles armed with stout, hooked, marginal spines; ligule large and adpressed, coriaceous, glabrous; rachis short; blade deeply cleft along the upper folds and copiously filiferous. Flowering stems 8ft. to 10ft. long. A tree 20ft. to 40ft. high. California. SYNS. Brahea filamentosa, Prichardia filamentosa, P. filifera. W. robusta (stout). l. sub-orbicular; petioles armed with strong spines, sheathing at the base; limb fan-shaped, plaited, entire to the middle, then divided into narrow, acute rays, bordered with white filaments. h. 6ft. to 7ft. California. (R. H. 1885, p. 403.)