Cabbage Palm

Sabal palmetto (Walter) Lodd. ex Schult. & Schult. f.

SAY-ball palm-ET-toe

Arecaceae

Explanation of name: Authors are generally unsure but suspect sabal to be a Native American name. Palmetto means little palm.

Natural range: Southeastern U.S., Bahamas, Cuba

Natural habitat: Dunes, hammocks, tidal flats, swamp, stream margins, pine woods

Recognition (data from WU1, NE4, HAE, MEE, JON, PBCC): The ubiquitous wild palm of South Florida and probably the most-cultivated or semi-cultivated palm species here. It is impossible to be present anywhere in our area and not see this palm. The only identification issue might be the potential for mistaking other less common-palmate-leaved palms for it. Cabbage Palm has a strongly costapalmate leaf with a curled silhouette and folded into a V along the midline. The leaves have fibers associated with the deeply separated segments. The petiole is unarmed. The blackish fruits are about the size of a large pea. The droopiness of the leaf tips and the tendency for the trunk to retain or shed old leaf bases varies.

       Dwarf Palmetto, Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers., has no trunk or a short one, no threads among the leaf segments, a comparatively short costapalmate region, and the segment tips unsplit (vs. deeply split in S. palmetto). It prefers moist habitats, occurring naturally in north and central Florida. Scrub Palmetto, S. etonia Swingle ex Nash, lives in dry, scrubby habitats, and is very similar to S. palmetto, including having fibers among the split leaf segments, but differs by having a shorter hastula (1-4 cm vs. (4)10-12 cm, WU1). Dwarf Palmetto and Scrub Palmetto could be confused with Saw Palmetto, Serenoa repens, which differs by having serrate petioles.

Landscape uses: One of the most used palms in South Florida landscaping. It is the Florida state tree. Slow-growing. MEE described the inability of new roots to branch from severed old roots after transplanting, and records improved survivorship with leaf removal. Most effective when in clusters. NE4 suggests the species to grow best on moist, sandy soil with some limestone. RI2 suggests it to be an error to plant this species where it must endure the Florida dry season apart from either its normal low, wet habitat or from supplemental water. The trunk is often inhabited by ferns, whisk-ferns, strangler figs, and other species emerging from the old leaf bases.