Glaucothea elegans (Franceschi ex Becc.) I.M.Johnst.
Brahea armata, commonly known as the blue fan palm, blue hesper palm, or Mexican blue palm, is a flowering plant in the family Arecaceae, native to Baja California, Mexico. It typically grows 35–50 feet (11–15 m) tall and 1.5–2 feet (0.45–0.6 m) wide, with a stout trunk, and rigid silver-blue palmatefronds. As a member of subgenus Erythea, it is distinguished by distinctly armed petioles with recurved teeth.
It is endemic to the Sonoran Desert, forming stands around perennial water sources, rocky arroyos, and canyon slopes in the north west Mexico. These stands provide critical habitat for wildlife and were historically utilized by regional Indigenous populations for thatch, fiber, and food. Today the blue hesper palm is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in arid and Mediterranean climates, valued for its extreme drought tolerance and massive, arching inflorescences.
The blue fan palm grows to a height of 15 metres (49ft), with a stout trunk. Its distinctly bluish leaves are 1–2 metres (3ft 3in– 6ft 7in) wide, with 1-metre (3ft 3in) long petioles. The leaves are persistent in nature, forming a shag around the trunk; in cultivation they are typically burned or cut off. The inflorescences extend out beyond the crown, reaching 5 metres (16ft) in length. The flowers themselves are small, appearing in February and March, while the fruits are 18–24 millimetres (0.71–0.94in) in length, brown and with a generally ovoid to globose shape.
Taxonomy
Distribution and habitat
In habitat, Baja California, MexicoPlants growing in habitat
Brahea armata has an attractive appearance, especially when young, and is commonly available at nurseries in the American southwest and in warm temperate locations elsewhere. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
It is drought tolerant (although occasional deep irrigation is recommended), can handle both partial shade and full sun, and temperatures down to −10°C (14°F). It is found under a variety of names, including "Mexican blue palm", "blue hesper palm", "big blue hesper palm", "blue fan palm", "sweet brahea", and "palma blanca".
The Cocopah people ate the seeds after roasting them.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahea armata.
Raymond M. Turner, Janice E. Bowers, and Tony L. Burgess, Sonoran Desert Plants: an Ecological Atlas (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1995) pp.115–116
