Under the palm tree

When we renovated Riyad el Mezouar ten years ago, we planted a palm tree in the courtyard.

A Washingtonia, with only a few palms, it was then growing in a basket and was less than one meter tall. It now reaches the first floor…

For the botanist, Washingtonia is one of the more than 200 genus of palms (Corypheae tribe). It has leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. The flowers are in a dense inflorescence, with the fruits maturing into a small blackish-brown drupe with a thin layer of sweet flesh over the single seed.

Originally native to the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. Washingtonia species are now commonly cultivated across the United States, the Middle East, southern Europe, and of course north Africa, where they have greatly hybridized.

Another illustration of the migration of species…