what is the "Farthest North " naturally growing palm in north america ?

[trioderob]

not the exact tree of course, but what area do palms run into

their "timberline " in north america ?

native palm trees only !

Edited April 27, 2011 by trioderob

[palmsOrl]

I did some quick research and it appears that both Sabal minor near the East Coast and Washingtonia filifera near the West Coast reach their northern-most extent at around the same latitude (35 N -36 N). Apparently, a population of Washingtonia filifera exists in Clark County, Nevada, which is approximately 35-36 N latitude and I also read somewhere that S. minor reaches well into central NC, which is at a similar latitude.

-Michael

[Sutter Bob]

One reason I'm so interested in palms is that many years ago I was reading an old (maybe from the early 1900s?) book on landscape trees in North America

and it mentioned Yuba City, CA as the northern limit for palm trees in the US.

I wrongly interpreted this to mean that such trees were native to the area (I now highly doubt they were - at least in historical times),

and it is certainly not true of domesticated palms.

That being said, many palm trees were planted in the northern Sacramento Valley by the early pioneers (I suspect as early as the Gold Rush i.e. 1850s).

I've seen many photos of Washingtonia filifera, Phoenix canariensis, and Trachycarpus (all cultivated) growing in Chico, CA in the late 1800s.

[JasonD]

Sabal minor's northernmost naturally occurring latitude is 35°49'13''N according to this article: Sabal minor (Arecaceae): a New Northern Record of Palms in Eastern North America

The 49 Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree National Park, California, is around 34N and could be called an indigenous population without much controversy.

Some believe that Moapa, Nevada's, Washingtonias are native; it's at 36 degrees 34'N. Washingtonia filifera is extremely useful to the indigenous people of the area and thus was likely aided by humans in its dispersal.

I've seen it naturalized at Orestimba Creek on I-5 near Patterson, around 37 degrees 40'N. Surely it's naturalized farther north in the Central Valley.

[Sutter Bob]

Intrigued again by the subject, I searched the Calflora site and it appears that Washingtnia filifera indeed might be native to Butte and Glenn counties.

Check out this link: http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=8336

[JasonD]

CalFlora's collection records do not distinguish among materials collected from cultivated, naturalized or native trees. Someone very likely submitted herbarium specimens from cultivated trees in most of the counties shown on the map. Thus, Butte & Glenn records do not necessarily imply indigenous trees.

Here's the distribution map according to Jepson, the authoritative text on California native plants.

[Sutter Bob]

It would seem likely to me that if native specimens did exist in Butte and Glenn counties we would be find the species to be more widespread along the edges of the entire Central Valley.

I'd love to have more information on the Calflora specimens (I suspect they're naturalized).