Sabal Minor

''Sabal minor'', commonly known as the dwarf palmetto, is a small species of palm. It is native to the deep southeastern and south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. It is naturally found in a diversity of habitats, including maritime forests, swamps, floodplains, and occasionally on drier sites. It is often found growing in calcareous marl soil. ''Sabal minor'' is one of the most frost and cold tolerant among North American palms.

Distribution

This palm's native range spans on the Atlantic Coast from central Florida north to Monkey Island, North Carolina. On the Gulf Coast, it spans from central Florida to central Texas, Arkansas, north to southern Oklahoma and northern Alabama, then south in the State of Nuevo León in Mexico.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Description

''Sabal Minor'' grows up to 3 meters in height, with a trunk up to diameter. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is long, with 40 leaflets up to long, conjoined over half of this length. The flowers are yellowish-white, across, produced in large compound panicles up to long, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe long containing a single seed.''Sabal minor''
in Flora of North America

Cultivation

''Sabal minor'' is one of the most cold hardy palms in cultivation; however, it does best when grown in hot and humid tropical summer conditions, and may struggle or grow slowly in cool summer climates. It is leaf hardy to near , and has been known to survive brief periods of temperatures. It is generally cultivated in subtropical and warm temperate climates. ''S.minor'' can grow in a wide variety of soil types, and is often found submerged in swamps in the southeastern United States. It grows in both full sun and shaded locations, though it will do best in the cooler garden zones (below zone USDA 7) in full sun and a wind sheltered location.

In the United States, since the 1960s, cultivation of ''Sabal minor'' has spread beyond the deep southern United States. ''S.minor'' is cultivated along the East Coast from Florida to coastal Connecticut, and on the West Coast from Vancouver BC south to San Diego. It is a recommended horticultural plant by the Virginia Cooperative Extension.''Care Sheet for ''Sabal minor'' or “Dwarf Palmetto” in Virginia Landscapes Fact and Care Sheet for Virginia Gardens''
/ref> There are several cultivars, including those from the Outer Banks of North Carolina (northernmost strains), and those from Oklahoma and Texas. One popular strain is 'McCurtain', named after McCurtain County, Oklahoma, where they are native. These tend to remain trunkless and smaller than those from warmer areas. ''S.minor'' is a popular landscape palm in coastal resort areas from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to southern Texas.

Gallery

File:Palmetto state park.jpg, Dwarf palmettos (''Sabal minor'') at Palmetto State Park, Texas USA (2 June 2007)
File:Big Thicket National Preserve, Lance Rosier Unit, Hardin Co. Texas, USA, 23 October 2019.jpg, ''Sabal minor'' and resurrection fern (''Pleopeltis polypodioides'') growing on oak limb, Big Thicket National Preserve, Hardin Co. Texas, USA (23 October 2019)
File:SabalMinorLargoFlorida.jpg, ''Sabal minor'' grouping in natural setting.
File:Dwarf Palmetto (10562472575).jpg, A dwarf palmetto frond Congaree National Park, South C, USA (8 November 2008)
File:SabalMinorhabitatSwamp.jpg, ''Sabal minor'' in saltwater marsh habitat, Hatteras North Carolina.
File:OldSabalMinorFriscoNC.jpg, ''Sabal minor'' often start showing a trunk once they get very old. This example is around 100 years old. Frisco NC
File:After Blizzard 1.4.14 3.jpg, Sabal minor and Needle Palm, also from the southeast, are the world's most freeze hardy palm species.
File:Sabal minor small.jpg, Young ''Sabal minor''
File:SabalMinor A&S.jpg, A naturalistic planting of ''Sabal minor'' outside the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Sabal minor MHNT.BOT.2018.28.30.jpg, ''Sabal minor'' - MHNT

References

External links

Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map

Interactive Distribution Map for ''Sabal minor''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q244278

minor
Flora of the Southern United States
Plants described in 1776
Flora of Nuevo León