Sargent’s Cherry Palm, Buccaneer Palm

Pseudophoenix sargentii Sargent

soo-doe-PHOE-nix  sar-GENT-ee-eye

Arecaceae

Explanation of name: The generic name means false Phoenix (another genus of palms). Sargentii commemorates Charles Sprague Sargent, prominent Harvard botanist and original collector of the palm.

Natural range: Florida Keys (Elliott, Sand, and Long keys) and Caribbean Islands to Mesoamerica

Natural habitat: Sand or limestone areas of limited rainfall (MAI)

Recognition: Smallish, slow-growing, single-trunked pinnate-leaved palm. The leaves reminiscent of Date Palms (but reduplicate instead of induplicate, and not spiny on the petiole), arching, with slender pointed leaflets; silvery underneath. Trunks with variable bulges. The red fruits provide the name “Cherry Palm.”  The leaf bases are unusually broad, wrapping around the bulging stem. 

Landscape uses: A slow-growing focal point used singly or in groups, tolerant of sunny seaside conditions.

Notes: MAI lists this as one of 10 Great Palms for South Florida. This species was almost eliminated from its Florida Keys natural populations by a combination of theft, vandalism, habitat destruction, and Hurricane Andrew. Fairchild Tropical Garden has worked to re-establish wild populations and to bring the species into cultivation. It is available from numerous commercial sources. For an account of reintroduction efforts, see Principes, Vol. 39, Number 1. ELL lists and illustrates varieties from the Bahamas. Germination in 3-4 months (ELL).  There are specimens at Pan’s Garden in Palm Beach and at the Ann Norton Sculpture Garden in West Palm Beach.