Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_washingtonia_filifera_var_filifera
California Fan Palm
Washingtonia filifera var. filifera
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About California Fan Palm
California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera var. filifera) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to desert oases, washes, springs, seeps and stream margins where underground water remains available. Historical Kauaʻi planting is documented; current survival or naturalization is not established by that ledger.
Kauaʻi evidence
Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Washingtonia filifera var. filifera
- Common names
- California Fan Palm · Desert fan palm
- Other names
- Washingtonia filifera var. filifera · California fan palm · Desert fan palm · Washingtonia filifera
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- Current survival on Kauaʻi, numbers, occupied habitat, reproduction and ecological effects are unconfirmed; historical planting does not establish naturalization.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Bisexual flowers are predominantly insect-pollinated in the native-range literature, with self-pollination also possible. Native-range fruits are dispersed by several mammals and birds; seed establishment needs a moist seedbed. Kauaʻi fruiting, viability, dispersal and recruitment are unverified.
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Palm tree
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Not yet assessed
- Data gaps
- Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera var. filifera) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Native to desert oases, washes, springs, seeps and stream margins where underground water remains available. Historical Kauaʻi planting is documented; current survival or naturalization is not established by that ledger.
Sources and further reading
- https://biorepo.neonscience.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=8529
- https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=48512
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/wasfil
- https://plants.sdsu.edu/sdpls/plants/Washingtonia_filifera/
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf