Nineteenth Century depictions of American Fan Palms (Washingtonia spp): A visual dataset

As part of a wider investigation into the presence of feral and naturalised Washingtonia spp. in agricultural and urban landscapes in Australia and the nature, range and vectors responsible for the dispersal of these palms, the author carried out research into the introduction of Washingtonia filifera and Washingtonia robusta to Australia as well as ahistoric overview of the first thirty years of the plant in the horticultural trade. That research identified a number of illustrations of Phoenix canariensis which have never been systematically compiled or analysed.

This document compiles all nineteenth century images of Washingtonia filifera and Washingtonia robusta that could be located during a systematic search of the literature on the two species. The images have been drawn from nursery catalogues and horticultural and botanical magazines. In concept it follows a similar document compiled for the Canary Islands Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis).