Washingtonia Filifera & Robusta

[eddie]

Two pics I took recently, wich I believe show the difference between the two nicely. Both palms are about the same size, grown in the same environment, wich should be good for comparison.

filifera

robusta

[leunerj]

Thanks Eddie - that's brilliant - very helpful.

As they say - 'a picture says a thousand words' and in this case, two pictures say about two thousand!

[rburrena]

Is robusta always more spikey?

[Dave Brown]

Nice pics Eddie,

I agree the top pic looks like I'd expect a W. filifera to look like. The lack of any red/brown at the base of the petiole, the almost thornless petioles, and the more lax open crown.

The second one has a much more robusta appearance, but they can be quite variable. Mine for instance has massive ROBUST thorns with the very tough thorn material running as a stripe either side of the petiole. These do not take prisoners and any maintenance normally leads to blooded hands and arms.

I think we have had a topic discussing the robusta thorns before. I'll see if I can find it and put a link.