Washingtonia filifera
An ornamental palm
This ornamental palm is widely grown in UAE in the farms, around official buildings, in houses and as a road-side palnt. It is fast growing and may reach, under favourable conditions, more than 25 meters in height.
The palm is dioecious; the male shown in this picture produces many inflorescences (in May - June). The inflorescence is a panicle, each of its branches is separately enclosed within a spathe, the whole structure that may reach 1-1/2 meters in length (rarely 2-3 meters) is further wrapped with a common spathe, thus looking like a horse whip. The picture shows opened and unopened inflorescence (the horse whip).
There are about four male palms to one female palm.
Photo by Saeed Gassouma courtesy Ecoport
(source URL: http://www.ecoport.org)
