Brahea aculeata

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Desert Garden at Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Common Names:

Sinaloa Hesper Palm,
Aculeata Fan Palm

Distribution & Habitat:

Found in western Mexico (Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango) in the southern part of Sonora Desert on very dry, stony soils.

Description:

A small to medium sized solitary fan palm with a rough trunk (to 5m tall), an open crown of relatively large (up to 1 metre across), light green leaves, lightly armed petioles, and a long branched inflorescence which extends past the leaves.

General:

The leaves are used by the locals for thatching and for weaving.

Culture:

Sunny, very well drained position; drought and frost tolerant. Slow growing, but a good plant for desert gardens, and warm temperate climates. Rarely seen in cultivation.

Figure 2. B. aculeata leaf close-up.

Figure 3. B. aculeata inflorescence.

Figure 4. B. aculeata infructescence.

Figure 5. B. aculeata with infructescence.

Note: all the images were taken in Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Contributed by:

Fred Zone 10A (Figure 1,2&3)
Colin Wilson (Figure 4&5)

External Links:

Kew, PalmWeb, eMonocot, JSTOR, Trebrown

Google, GoogleImages, Flickr, PalmTalk