Sabal miamiensis
Sabal miamiensis, the Miami palmetto, is a rare plant species known only from Dade County, Florida, in the vicinity of the City of Miami. It is seriously threatened and may possibly already be extinct in the wild although it is still in cultivation as an ornamental.[1] It has been collected in nature only from rocky pinelands in the region, areas now rapidly becoming urbanized. The formal description of this as a new species was published in 1985, based largely on specimens collected in 1901.[2][3][4]
Miami palmetto | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Arecales |
Family: | Arecaceae |
Genus: | Sabal |
Species: | S. miamiensis |
Binomial name | |
Sabal miamiensis Zona | |
Sabal miamiensis is closely related to S. etonia but has larger fruits (15–19 mm (0.59–0.75 in) in diameter) and an inflorescences with 3 orders of branching instead of 2. Stems are primarily subterranean, leaves no more than 6 per plant, each yellow-green and up to 85 cm (33.5 in) long. Flowers are creamy white, each 5-5.5 mm long. Fruits are black and fleshy.[5][6][7][8]
References
- Palmpedia, Floribunda Palms and Exotics
- Flora of North America v 22 p 109
- Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Extinct Plants Index
- Fairchild Botanical Garden, Fairchild Guide to Palms, herbarium sheet 53867, Sabal miamensis
- Zona, S. 1985. A new species of Sabal (Palmae) from Florida. Brittonia 37(4): 366–368.
- Henderson, A., G. A. Galeano & R. Bernal. 1995. Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas 1–352. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
- Zona, S. 1990. A monograph of Sabal (Arecaceae: Coryphoideae). Aliso 12: 583--666.
- Fox. D.A., & M.G. Andreu. 2012. Sorting out the Florida Sabal Palms. University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension, FOR 289