Mountain Palm Springs

Overview

At first glance, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park appears to be a lifeless, beige wasteland with equally lifeless, beige peaks rising up from endless plains covered in spiny demon plants and cursed with punishing sunshine and unquenchable thirst. These inhospitable qualities serve as the perfect cover for beautiful surprises that betray the desert’s outwardly lifeless appearance. One of the great surprises in the southern half of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the presence of a cluster of 7 California fan palm groves tucked into a series of shallow canyons at the foot of the Tierras Blancas Mountains at Mountain Palm Springs. Marys Grove The California fan palm, along with its sibling, the Mexican fan palm, is ubiquitous in the urban fabric of Southern California. These two trees, which hybridize easily, have become famous ornamental fixtures along spacious urban boulevards. However, there is a lot more to the California fan palm’s story than simply being a famous, albeit diminishing fixture in urban skylines. The California fan palm is the only palm native to the western United States, and it is also the largest palm species in the country. The tree is a tropical relic that inhabits the Colorado Desert, which is one of the driest and hottest places on the planet. As a parade of ecosystems spanning millions of years has come and gone through California’s desert interior, the California fan palm is a fixture that has clung tenaciously to life while becoming a crucial fixture in the life of desert animals. Sunrise at Pygmy Grove The theory for how the palm got here begins with tectonic movement. The land that currently occupies the region surrounding the Salton Trough has moved 200 miles north from its position in tropical Mexico over millions of years. As that land moved, it took the California fan palm with it, splitting it off from the Mexican fan palm and creating a separate, although very similar species. Despite endless climatological changes, the ever-thirsty palm trees (which can consume up to 200 gallon

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