Sabal palmetto

Sabal palmetto (/ˈseɪbəl/, SAY-bəl), also known as cabbage-palm,[4] palmetto, cabbage palmetto,[2] blue palmetto,[2] Carolina palmetto,[5] common palmetto,[5] swamp cabbage[6] and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm. It is native to the Southern United States, as well as Cuba,[7] the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas.[7][8][9]

Cabbage-palm
Sabal palmetto in habitat, Florida

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Sabal
Species:
S. palmetto
Binomial name
Sabal palmetto
Synonyms[2][3]
Sabal palmetto from von Martius' "Historia naturalis palmarum"

In the United States, the native range of S. palmetto is the coastal plain of the lower East Coast from southeast North Carolina southward to Florida and west along the Gulf Coastal plain to Texas.

Description

Sabal palmetto grows up to 65 feet or 20 metres. Starting at ½ to ⅔ the height, the tree develops into a rounded, costapalmate fan of numerous leaflets. A costapalmate leaf has a definite costa (midrib) unlike the typical palmate or fan leaf, but the leaflets are arranged radially like in a palmate leaf. All costapalmate leaves are about 0.20 inches or 5.1 millimetres across, produced in large compound panicles up to 8.2 feet or 2.5 metres in radius, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe about 0.5 inches or 1.3 centimetres long containing a single seed. It is extremely salt-tolerant and is often seen growing near both the Atlantic Ocean coast and the Gulf of Mexico coast.[4]

Sabal palmetto is hardy to USDA zone 8, and has been reported to have some cold hardness down to 8.6 °F or −13.0 °C, but needs hot and humid summers to grow well. Maintenance of the cabbage palm tree is very easy and very adaptable. The cabbage palmetto is known to tolerate drought, standing water and brackish water. Even though this palm is drought-tolerant, it thrives on regular light watering and regular feeding. It is highly tolerant of salt winds, but not saltwater flooding.[10]

Historical background

The cabbage-like terminal bud has been eaten as hearts of palm. The bristles on the sheaths of young leaves have been made into scrubbing brushes. The trunks have been used as wharf piles. On June 28, 1776, Charleston patriots under William Moultrie made a fort of palmetto trunks and from it defended successfully against the British in the Revolutionary War.[11]

Cultivation and uses
The approximate range of cultivation for cabbage palmettos in the US with little to no winter protection

Sabal palmetto is a popular landscape plant in subtropical climates and used for its tolerance of salt spray and drought, and is moderately cold hardy. Because of their relatively long establishment period and prevalence on southern ranchlands, few, if any are grown from seed in nurseries. Instead, established plants are dug in the wild with small rootballs since virtually all the severed roots die and must be replaced by new roots in the new location. Most leaves are removed at this time to reduce transpiration. It is the state tree of South Carolina and Florida. Most references rate the species as hardy to USDA hardiness zone 8a. Cabbage palms have excellent hurricane resistance, but are frequently overpruned. Sabal palms normally only do well in hot and humid summer climates.

The growing heart of the new fronds, also known as the terminal bud, gives the tree its "cabbage" name, since this is extracted as a food and tastes like other undifferentiated plant meristem tissue, such as the heart of a cabbage or artichoke. It is one of several palm species that are sometimes used to make heart of palm salad. Heart of palm was commonly eaten by Native Americans. However, extracting the heart kills this species of palm, because the terminal bud is the only point from which the palm can grow, so without this bud, the palm is not able to replace old leaves and eventually dies.

The cabbage palm is remarkably resistant to fire, floods, coastal conditions, cold, high winds, and drought. Despite this, recent mortality has been caused by Texas phoenix palm decline, a phytoplasma currently found on the west coast of Florida.

Sabal palmetto trunks appear in two different conditions, which can be confusing (see photo). When leaves die, the leaf bases typically persist for a while, creating a spiky, "basketweave" effect. These remnant leaf bases are called "bootjacks" or "boots", for short. The name stems from the "Y" shape that was reminiscent of devices used to aid individuals in removing boots. Transplanted palms are sometimes deliberately shorn of these bootjacks. Taller specimens are more likely to have lost their bootjacks and appear relatively smooth and columnar. The loss of bootjacks is a natural, if poorly understood, phenomenon, as the palm does not create a leaf abscission zone so the loss of the leaf bases results from some other physical or biological process.

Sabal palmetto "Lisa"
Sabal palmetto "Lisa" in Fort Myers, Florida

In 1998, a new mutant form of S. palmetto was discovered in southwest Florida, and named as a cultivar, Sabal palmetto "Lisa". This cultivar has unusually thick and leathery, largely fused leaflets that give the palm a unique and appealing appearance. Over 60% of the seedlings have the same leaf characteristics as the parent plant and Sabal palmetto "Lisa" has been popularized in the nursery trade in Florida over the last 20 years and proven to be as resistant to heat, wind, cold, drought, and neglect as the common form while keeping its shape.[12]

Symbolic use
Flag of South Carolina
Seal of Florida
Flag of Florida (1868–1900)
Flag of Florida (1900)
Flag of Florida (1900-1985)
Flag of Florida (1985-present)

The sabal palmetto is the official state tree of both Florida and South Carolina (the latter is nicknamed "The Palmetto State").

The annual football rivalry game between Clemson and South Carolina is known as the "Palmetto Bowl".

A silhouette of a palmetto (S. palmetto) appears on the official flag of the US state of South Carolina.[13]

An image of a palmetto appears on the back of South Carolina's State quarter , which was issued in 2000.

Two images of S. palmetto appear on the official great seal of the State of Florida[14] and Flag of Florida.

  • S. palmetto shows remarkable tolerance of salt, even being able to grow where washed by sea water at high tide. The immature palm in the forefront still has its "bootjacks", while the palm to the far right has shed them. Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • S. palmetto growing near the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia
  • Up close shot of Sabal 'Lisa' showing leaf character, distinct from that of wild-type S. palmetto
  • A Sabal palmetto in the Canaveral National Seashore, Florida
  • Bootjacks of S. palmetto
  • A Sabal Palmetto in Enterprise, Alabama.
  • Sabal Palmetto in Beach habitat, Manasota Key Florida
  • While Sabal Palmetto are very slow growers, they have been known to live well over 100 years and grow upwards of 80 - 90 feet tall. Photo taken in Crystal River Florida

References
  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Sabal palmetto, Cabbage Palmetto". explorer.natureserve.org.
  2. "Sabal palmetto". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  3. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  4. Flora of North America: Sabal palmetto
  5. Wade, Dale D.; Langdon, O. Gordon (1990). "Sabal palmetto". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Hardwoods. Silvics of North America. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 2. Retrieved 2014-03-22 – via Southern Research Station (www.srs.fs.fed.us).
  6. James M. Stephens (1994). "Cabbage, Swamp — Sabal palmetto (Walt.) Lodd ex Schult. & Schult.f., Fact Sheet HS-571" (PDF). University of Florida, Florida Cooperative Extension Service.
  7. Van Deelen, Timothy R. 1991. Sabal palmetto. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
  8. Zona, S. (1990). "A monograph of Sabal (Arecaceae: Coryphoideae)". Aliso. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. 12 (4): 583–666. doi:10.5642/aliso.19901204.02.
  9. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  10. "Real Palm Trees". Palm Tree General Description.
  11. Peattie, Donald Culross. Trees You Want to Know. Whitman Publishing Company, Racine, Wisconsin, 1934. p36
  12. "A new cultivar of Sabal palmetto" (PDF). Palm Tree General Description.
  13. Netstate, South Carolina State Flag
  14. The Great Seal of the State of Florida
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