Which Palms?
Washingtonia filifera! Historically these Palms have grown wild in 11 different springs in three valleys collectively known as the 'Moapa Valley' in Southern Nevada, USA. This area is 130 miles north of the "accepted" northernmost range of this palm according to outdated botanical texts which did not include the Moapa Palms.

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Are they Native?
This palm is native almost exclusively to Deserts in the U.S. southwest at sheltered springs. Most grow around the Salton sea in California, but 'recognized' native groves also exist only a few miles South of the Nevada border, at 4,000 ft. elev.! Moapa's palms are at 1,200 ft elev. in a warmer microclimate in a Warm Springs. The area's climate has been repeatedly mis-classified. A line of undescribed small palm groves stretches from the "recognized" groves to the south to Moapa along the Colorado. This alone suggests they are native. Moapa traditional uses support this!

So Why the Fuss?
A single 80 year old White story which cannot be corroborated or substantiated has been used since the 1920's to inaccurately suggest that this Palm may have been 'introduced by whites'. It states that an early settler from Phoenix Az - Mendis Cooper - planted the first palm trees in Overton in 1893. Those 9 palms DO still exist in a line in front of the homestead.

Locals presumed Mendis brought his palms from AZ solely because by the 1920's, Palms were a known Phoenix landscape plant. What those promoting the story did NOT know, is that before 1900 NO palms existed in Phoenix. Researchers from Univ. of Az. demonstrated this as fact in the 1980's.

Also unexplained were large numbers of Palms in groves which perfectly fit descriptions of other native groves. These were scattered up to 60 miles away from the Cooper homestead and have been known since the late 1800's!

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