California Fan Palms

Though not strictly speaking a forest, these scattered groves of California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) play a very important role in the desert environment. They grow in seeps and small ponds where groundwater rises to the surface and are often the only substantial vegetation for miles. The water of the oases attracts large animals such as bighorn sheep and coyotes, the skirts of the palms provide hiding and breeding places for birds and small animals, and formerly Native Americans camped in the groves.

Though palm trees are an iconic aspect of the the Southern California landscape, none occur naturally in the heavily populated coastal areas. This type of fan palm grows in a few large oases such as Palm Springs, and hundreds of smaller ones, scattered throughout the Colorado Desert of southeastern California. Similar species continue the pattern in Baja California, Mexico. The other palms commonly planted in Southern California are date palms, originally from Iraq, as commercial date orchards in the Coachella Valley and stately urban trees as far north as San Francisco.

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USA-Canada / USA-California

Lat: 33° 50' 15.73" N
Long: 117° 19' 34.4" W

Elevation: sea level

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Photographed with a Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR with a 15mm Canon fisheye lens, on a Nodal Ninja VR mount, Really Right Stuff ballhead, and Gitzo carbon-fiber tripod. Stitched with PTGui Pro 9.0 on a Macintosh Intel Core 2 Duo iMac, retouched with Photoshop CS3.