''Sabal palmetto'' (, '' SAY-bəl''), also known as cabbage palm, cabbage palmetto, sabal palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, Garfield's tree, and swamp cabbage, is one of 15 species of palmetto

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

. It is native to the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Description

''Sabal palmetto'' grows up to tall. Starting at half to two-thirds 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 across, produced in large compound panicles up to in radius, extending out beyond the leaves. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a black

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

about long containing a single seed. It is extremely

salt-tolerant Halotolerance is the adaptation of living organisms to conditions of high salinity. Halotolerant species tend to live in areas such as hypersaline lakes, coastal dunes, saline deserts, salt marshes, and inland salt seas and springs. Halophiles a ...

and is often seen growing near both the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

coast.Flora of North America: ''Sabal palmetto''
/ref> Sabal palmetto00.jpg, ''Sabal palmetto'' from

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

's ''Historia naturalis palmarum'' Sabal palmetto2.jpg, ''S. palmetto'' on

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

Enterprise palm tree.jpg, ''S. palmetto'' in

Enterprise, Alabama Enterprise is a city in the southeastern part of Coffee County and the southwestern part of Dale County in Southeastern Alabama, United States. Its population was 28,711 at the 2020 census. Enterprise is the primary city of the Enterprise micr ...

South Carolina palmetto tree, Columbia IMG 4790.JPG, ''S. palmetto'' growing near the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia Palm tree CANA.JPG, ''S. palmetto'' in the

Canaveral National Seashore The Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) is a National Seashore located between New Smyrna Beach and Titusville, Florida, in Volusia and Brevard Counties. The park, located on a barrier island, was created on January 3, 1975, by an act of Congress ...

, Florida SabalPalm627363.jpg, ''S. palmetto'' in beach habitat,

Manasota Key, Florida Manasota Key is a census-designated place (CDP) consisting mainly of the community of Englewood Beach in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population of the CDP was 1,326 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda Metropolitan ...

OldSabalPalmettoCrystalRiver.jpg, Wild specimens Palm tree bootjacks.JPG, Bootjacks Sabal sp. Lisa.jpg, ''S. palmetto'' 'Lisa' in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

''Sabal palmetto'' "Lisa"

In 1998, a new mutant form of ''S. palmetto'' was discovered in southwest Florida, and named as a

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

, ''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.

Distribution and habitat

''Sabal palmetto'' is native to the

, specifically the coastal plain of the lower East Coast including southeast

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It can also be found in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

,Van Deelen, Timothy R. 1991
Sabal palmetto
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

, and

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The species is hardy to the

US Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

's zone 8, and has been reported to have some cold hardness down to , 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.

Cultivation

''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 Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers. Water is necessary for plants but only a small amount of water taken up by the roots is used for growth a ...

. Most references rate the species as hardy to USDA hardiness zone 8a. Cabbage palms have excellent

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

resistance, but are frequently overpruned. Sabal palms normally only do well in hot and humid summer climates. 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 Texas Phoenix palm decline, or lethal bronzing, is a plant disease caused by a phytoplasma, ''Candidatus'' Phytoplasma palmae. It takes its name from the state it was first identified in and the palm genus, ''Phoenix'', upon which it was first id ...

, a

phytoplasma Phytoplasmas are obligate intracellular parasites of plant phloem tissue and of the insect vectors that are involved in their plant-to-plant transmission. Phytoplasmas were discovered in 1967 by Japanese scientists who termed them mycoplasma-lik ...

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 Abscission () is the shedding of various parts of an organism, such as a plant dropping a leaf, fruit, flower, or seed. In zoology, abscission is the intentional shedding of a body part, such as the shedding of a claw, husk, or the autotomy of a ...

zone so the loss of the leaf bases results from some other physical or biological process.

Uses

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 The globe artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green articho ...

. It is one of several palm species that are sometimes used to make

heart of palm Heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees, most notably the coconut (''Cocos nucifera''), juçara (''Euterpe edulis''), açaí palm (''Euterpe oleracea''), palmetto (''Sabal'' spp.), and pe ...

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-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 William Moultrie (; November 23, 1730 – September 27, 1805) was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charle ...

made a fort of palmetto trunks and from it defended successfully against the British in the Revolutionary War. The fruit is edible raw, and the seeds can be ground into flour.

Culture

The sabal palmetto is the official

state tree This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory trees, including official trees of the following of the states, of the federal district, and of the territories. Table See also * List of U.S. state, district, and territorial insign ...

of both Florida and South Carolina (the latter is nicknamed "The Palmetto State"). The annual football rivalry game between Clemson and

is known as the "Palmetto Bowl". A

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

of a palmetto (''S. palmetto'') appears on the official flag of the US state of South Carolina. 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 FloridaThe Great Seal of the State of Florida
/ref> and the

flag of Florida The Flag of Florida is the state flag of Florida, United States. It consists of a red saltire on a white background, with the state seal superimposed on the center. The flag's current design has been in use since May 21, 1985, after the design o ...

. Flag_of_South_Carolina.svg, Flag of South Carolina Seal_of_Florida.svg, Seal of Florida Flag of Florida (1868–1900).svg, Flag of Florida (1868–1900) Flag_of_Florida_(1900).svg, Flag of Florida (1900) Flag_of_Florida_(1900-1985).svg, Flag of Florida (1900–1985) Flag_of_Florida.svg, Flag of Florida (1985–present)

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for ''Sabal palmetto'' (cabbage palmetto)

''Sabal palmetto''
fro
Floridata

Interactive Distribution Map for Sabal palmetto
* {{Authority control palmetto Halophytes Flora of the Southern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Trees of Cuba Trees of the Bahamas Flora of the Turks and Caicos Islands Symbols of Florida Symbols of South Carolina Plants described in 1788 Garden plants of North America Ornamental trees