Palm tree ID California SOLVED

[Betty LaRue]

I took this image in California back in 2006. I probably never uploaded it because I couldn’t ID it. Yesterday, I spent a lot of time researching and still couldn’t nail it down. There’s not many palms with such stocky trunks, but those I found had the wrong leaf or frond pattern.

Looking at palms on Alamy, it seems hardly anyone identifies palms other than maybe “tropical palm”. They probably ran into the same brick wall I did.

I wish I’d taken the whole view of this tree, but I think I remember I couldn’t back up far enough, and didn’t want to walk back to the car to change lenses since I was there to shoot birds. This would have been a grab shot.

Anybody have a clue? California, USA?

Edited February 3, 2021 by Betty LaRue

[Michael Ventura]

Looks like a date palm but not 100% sure.

[John Richmond]

CIDP, Canary Island date palm, Phoenix canariensis, Betty.

[Betty LaRue]

I can’t believe it, John, thankyouthankyouverymuch. All I can say is you’re amazing. I spent 2 hours trying to id that thing.

💃lol

[Marianne]

I knew it was a date palm but couldn't have nailed it exactly. @John Richmond is amazing! It's funny I just tried id'g some different palm trees and some pine trees I shot in Arizona in 2014 and finally gave up. Living on the east coast where most of our trees are deciduous (as I assume is the case where you are @Betty LaRue, I even find evergreens tricky sometime (I know my Norway Spruce, Blue Spruce, etc. - but the difference between the evergreens in Arizona had to do with what elevation they were found at - these were shots I took from a moving tour bus or rental car so no way!)

 

I spent one year of my life living in California - when I was a junior in college. I was walking down the street the first day I got there finding out I didn't have a dorm room and without a car and with no bike or public transportation living off campus was nearly impossible. So I was dejectedly walking along the sidewalk halfheartedly kicking at these little stones as I shuffled along, trying to keep my emotions in check. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was kicking fallen olives and my spirits lifted immediately at the novelty! (I camped out on some new friends' floor for a couple weeks and a dorm room eventually opened up so the story has a doubly-happy ending. If only I'd taken a botany class it would be the triple crown. Thankfully we have John and others to help). 

 

 

[Betty LaRue]

I now have it properly captioned and tagged. Marianne, it sounds like you are similar to me about doing your level best to research. I’ve never thought it fair to ask people (and it’s usually John who does the work) to do something unless I’ve spent all the due diligence myself. Even then, I hate to impose. Agreed on the frustration of not being able to figure it out.

@John Richmond is our resident guru on all thing growing from the ground. What’s special is plants are his specialty for Alamy, but he’s more than willing to help us compete against him.

I like your story and I’m glad it ended well. I’d have been bawling my head off.

I had always heard the song about “chestnuts roasting in an open fire” at Christmas, but never knowingly saw a chestnut. One autumn Bob & I were walking from our parking spot to the Oklahoma University football stadium to see a game. The sidewalk and grounds were absolutely covered with some kind of nuts. I had to be careful not to slip on them. I looked at the trees, and couldn’t identify them. (Hickorys?) Nothing that normally grew around me.  I picked some nuts up, rolled them around in my hand. I asked several passersby what they were until an older couple told me they were chestnuts. And me without my camera, which wasn’t allowed at the games. Ahh, well.

Lol, I’ve puzzled over John’s CIDP in his message. I just now looked it up and everything referred to medical conditions. Then it dawned on me. Duh. CIDP=Canary Island Date Palm. I’m not stupid. Just slow. 😁

Edited February 3, 2021 by Betty LaRue

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Looks like a date palm but not 100% sure.

Thanks, Michael, you were definitely on the right track.

[John Richmond]

Glad to help, Betty.  CIDP is the common abbreviation for the palm and worth including in your key words.  It's one of the hardiest of the feather palms, widely grown in Mediterranean and similar hot summer, mild winter climates and very distinctive with the thick trunk and massive head of fronds.  We can even grow it here in the milder parts of the UK.  There are some pretty large specimens locally, sometimes planted in - and now rapidly outgrowing - tiny gardens.

 

I'm not totally altruistic with my plant IDs.  Like any specialist I've a considerable self interest in ensuring that buyers are attracted to Alamy as much for the accuracy of the captioning and keywording as the image quality and suitability for their needs.  Many buyers are also specialists - and they're not going to linger long on a site riddled with poorly identified specimens.  If I can help with accurate plant and flower IDs for others it also raises the general trustworthiness profile - including for my own images.

 

 

[MizBrown]

8 hours ago, John Richmond said:

If I can help with accurate plant and flower IDs for others it also raises the general trustworthiness profile - including for my own images.

 

 I think the best example of Alamy being embarrassed by a contributor was the wrong ID on one of the New Zealand parrot photos.

[Marianne]

1 hour ago, MizBrown said:

 

 I think the best example of Alamy being embarrassed by a contributor was the wrong ID on one of the New Zealand parrot photos.

 

I read about someone licensing an image of the Statue of Liberty from another agency that turned out to be the replica in Vegas - now that has to be the funniest goof I've heard of. I have to think it was the buyer not reading all the info as the photographer was unlikely to make such a mistake. 

[Betty LaRue]

17 hours ago, John Richmond said:

Glad to help, Betty.  CIDP is the common abbreviation for the palm and worth including in your key words.  It's one of the hardiest of the feather palms, widely grown in Mediterranean and similar hot summer, mild winter climates and very distinctive with the thick trunk and massive head of fronds.  We can even grow it here in the milder parts of the UK.  There are some pretty large specimens locally, sometimes planted in - and now rapidly outgrowing - tiny gardens.

 

I'm not totally altruistic with my plant IDs.  Like any specialist I've a considerable self interest in ensuring that buyers are attracted to Alamy as much for the accuracy of the captioning and keywording as the image quality and suitability for their needs.  Many buyers are also specialists - and they're not going to linger long on a site riddled with poorly identified specimens.  If I can help with accurate plant and flower IDs for others it also raises the general trustworthiness profile - including for my own images.

 

 

I’ll add CIDP. Thanks!

[John Richmond]

6 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I’ll add CIDP. Thanks!

I think I'll also follow my own advice.  Doh!  😬

[Betty LaRue]

5 hours ago, John Richmond said:

I think I'll also follow my own advice.  Doh!  😬

Lol!!
John, you have some very nice images of the tree. Far better than the one I have. If I’d known the ID, and looked at what Alamy has on offer, I wouldn’t have uploaded my sorry example.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Betty LaRue