Identifying Texas Sabal and Washingtonia Palms

Living in the Rio Grande Valley, it's easy to take for granted the beauty of our native and naturalized palms.  There are many thousand varieties of palms and 15-20 of them are a common sight in this area.   I think we should all be able to identify the plants and trees growing in our landscapes - along with the birds and butterflies that frequent them.   One of the advantages to learning to identify different palm trees is that it makes you take a closer look at the plant, which leads to a greater appreciation of each palms unique characteristics.

Let's just talk about two of the most common palms down here - our native Texas sabal and the

Mexican Fan Palm

Mexican fan or washingtonia palm.   The untrained (or unobservant) eye would say they look the same.  They are both tall with large fan leaves.

The Mexican fan palm grows 36 inches a year, maturing at 80-100 feet.   Although it's not native, it has naturalized here.  Birds have spread the seeds through our brushlines and native habitat.   A few people even consider it invasive.  But it is a wonderful food source for many birds.  We have been lucky enough to observe a flock of small parrots feeding on the ripe fruit.  We kept hearing something hit the ground - it was the seed they spit out after consuming the fruit!   Mexican fan palms line the highways and many boulevards throughout south Texas.   It does well in parking lots, grouped in large open areas, and in the landscape of a tall building.   In a typical residential landscape, it may look more like a telephone pole than a palm.

Texas Sabal

Texas sabal palms are the only palm native to south Texas.   They grow from deep south Texas south to Central America.   Sabals are slower growers, adding 1 or 2 sets of fronds each growing season, which amounts to about a foot a year.   Mature height is 40 or 50 feet but I rarely see any taller than 20 - 25 feet.   It used to be rare to see one growing in the wild, but birds have done a great job of spreading seed.   Texans use sabal fronds when building palapas.    Sabals retain their 'boots' (leaf ends) for a very long time, giving the trunk a heavy cross-hatched look like the palm below.    It is both drought tolerant and salt-tolerant, making it a great choice for coastal plantings.









Similar but not the same.  Here are the differences to look for:

• Texas sabal has a smooth frond stem with no spines; Mexican fan has short, dark thorns along the base of the leaf stem.
• Texas sabal has larger fronds (5-8 feet wide) than the Mexican fan (3-5 feet wide)
• Texas sabal has a larger, fuller canopy.  
• Texas sabal trunk is thicker than a Mexican fan's - about 30" in diameter - and it is more likely to have its boots. 

Take my challenge to learn to identify different palm trees growing in south Texas!

Desert Willow

For the past decade, gardeners everywhere are looking for water-wise plants and Desert Willow is one that I want to add to my home landscape.    This Texas native is considered a small tree or large shrub.   We have been growing it at the nursery for the past 4 years and really like how it performs.   We are just now selling our first crop.  They are a little lankier than we would like but we've begun a pruning program that has added fullness to the trees.    

Now, more about Desert Willow.   It's not a willow at all - but a catalpa, if that means anything to you.    This small tree has willow-shaped leaves and blooms from June through October.   The blossoms look like miniature orchids and may be pink, purple, or white.  I've read that there is also a yellow variety but have never seen it.    I'm picturing a flower that's more cream-colored than yellow.

Desert Willow 'Bubba'

There are a couple of patented Desert Willows on the market:  Bubba which blooms a vibrant hot pink and Timeless Beauty which has burgundy and lavender bi-colored flowers.  If the color is important to you, purchase from a reputable nursery or buy when the tree is in bloom.  They begin blooming at a fairly young age - even in a 5 gallon container.


Desert Willow is fast growing and it tends to be a bit leggy.  It may be hard to do, but until your tree is 5 or 6 feet tall, prune it severely.   By that, I mean cut it back by a third.   Do it in late winter.   These trees are deciduous and experience a bit of die back each winter so you'll really feel like you're trimming bare sticks.    Your tree will thank you with a much fuller canopy.    As a bonus, it  flowers on new growth so you'll get more flowers too!   Because it flowers on new growth, you can prune it for the shape you want and not sacrifice any blooms.

Desert Willow is fairly new in nurseries but, they should be available throughout Texas.   Speaking of Texas, Desert Willow grows just about everywhere in Texas except east Texas.   They just get too much rain there - poor people.  It grows in a variety of soil types as long as it is well drained.