''Brahea armata'', commonly known as Mexican blue palm or blue hesper palm, is a large evergreen tree of the palm family

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

, Mexico. It is widely planted as an

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

Description

It grows to a height of , with a stout trunk. Its distinctly bluish leaves are wide, with long

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

s. The leaves are persistent in nature, forming a shag around the trunk; in cultivation they are typically burned or cut off. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s extend out beyond the crown, reaching in length. The flowers themselves are small, appearing in February and March, while the fruits are in length, brown and with a generally ovoid to globose shape.

Distribution and habitat

This species is

to the Mexican state of

, distributed from just south of the

international border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

near the

Jacumba Mountains The Jacumba Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges in eastern San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific O ...

to the

central desert Deserts cover about , or 18%, of the Australian mainland, but about 35% of the Australian continent receives so little rain, it is practically desert. Collectively known as the Great Australian desert, they are primarily distributed throughout ...

and Isla Angel de la Guarda. Plants growing in the

Sierra de San Francisco The Sierra de San Francisco is a mountain range in Mulegé Municipality of the northern region of Baja California Sur state, in northwestern Mexico. Geography The Sierra de San Francisco are on the eastern side of the Baja California Peninsula, n ...

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is a state in Mexico. It is the 31st and last state to be admitted, in 1974. It is also the second least populated Mexican state and the ninth-largest state by ...

may be of a different species. It is locally common in arroyos and canyon bottoms, and has been observed growing in rock crevices at higher elevations. It is sometimes found with ''

Washingtonia filifera ''Washingtonia filifera'' pygmy date palm, the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm,Flora of North America Association. ''Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (i ...

'' or ''

Washingtonia robusta ''Washingtonia robusta'', known by common name as the Mexican fan palm, Mexican washingtonia, or skyduster is a palm tree native to the Baja California peninsula and a small part of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. Despite its limited native distr ...

''.

Uses

''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 The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. It is drought tolerant (although occasional deep irrigation is recommended), can handle both partial shade and full sun, and temperatures down to . 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 The Cocopah ( Cocopah: Xawiƚƚ Kwñchawaay) are Native Americans who live in Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, United States. In the United States, Cocopah people belong to the federally recognized Cocopah Tribe of Arizona. Name The ...

people ate the seeds after roasting them. File:MatureBraheaArmataAZ.jpg, Mature pair of ''Brahea armata'', Phoenix AZ File:BraheaArmataSettingSeed.jpg, ''Brahea armata'' setting seed File:BraheaArmataClumpPhxAz.jpg, Group planting of ''Brahea armata'', Phoenix, AZ File:JuvenileBraheaArmatapair.jpg, Juvenile pair of ''Brahea armata''

Description

Distribution and habitat

Uses

References

Further reading