Anza-Borrego Trip #8
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Anza Borrego Desert #8

Palm Canyon photographed in February 2005. The boulder-strewn riverbed is littered with the trunks of California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera), carried downstream during the flash flood of September 2004. Although more than a thousand palms occupied scattered groves up this steep canyon, 70 percent of them were washed out in raging wall of water over 10 feet high.

The trunk of a California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) in Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego State Park. The palm was washed down the steep canyon during the flash flood of September 2004. The fibrous strands are vascular bundles composed of lignified cells.

Anatomy Of Monocot Stems
Anatomy Of Palm Wood

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus).

This edible fungus was common on trunks of California fan palms in Borrego Palm Canyon during the rainy season of February 2005. The palms were washed out the previous September during an enormous flash flood. Oyster mushrooms grow on the stumps of a variety of trees in North America. They are known to form massive clusters weighing more than one hundred pounds. Although their shape can be variable, the margin is often wavy or lobed.

California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) in Borrego Palm Canyon.

Although 70 percent of the native fan palms in Borrego Palm Canyon were washed down the steep canyon during the flash flood of September 2004, there are still survivors that will perpetuate the species. This photo was taken during March 2005.

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