543.000 Washingtonia H.A. Wendl.

Palms solitary, stems erect, tall; partly or completely covered in old leaf bases forming conspicuous skirt round stem. Leaves with soft sheath fibres; petiole split at base, margins usually armed with teeth, margin becoming tattered, fibrous; costa prominent; lamina costapalmate, plication induplicate. Inflorescence axillary within crown of leaves, paniculate arching well beyond leaves with 2 orders of branching; rhachis bracts very conspicuous. Flowers borne singly along rachillae; petals 3, long, basally connate into a tube. Fruit drupes, blackish; exocarp smooth; mesocarp thin. Seeds ellipsoid.

Derivation of name: after George Washington, 1732-1799, first President of the United States

Worldwide: 2 species in WN America and W Mexico.

Zimbabwe: 3 cultivated taxa.