''Sabal mexicana'' is a species of palm tree that is native to far southern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Common names include Rio Grande palmetto, Mexican palmetto, Texas palmetto, Texas sabal palm, palmetto cabbage and palma de mícharos. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, ''"mexicana"'', is Latin for "of Mexico."

Description

Mexican palmetto reaches a height of , with a spread of . The

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Computing * Trunk (software), in rev ...

reaches in length and in diameter. The fan-shaped fronds are wide and attach to spineless petioles. Spikes in length yield small

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

flowers. The

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'') ...

s are black when ripe and in diameter.

Range

The current range of ''S. mexicana'' extends from

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

on the Gulf Coast of the United States and Nayarit on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

, south along both seashores to Nicaragua. It is one of the most widespread and common palm trees in Mexico, where it is found in the drier lowlands. Some believe that the species may have ranged much further north along the Texas Gulf Coast and as far inland as San Antonio at one time. This is supported by observations recorded in the 17th to 19th centuries, the presence of a small, disjunct population north of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and the ease with which cultivated trees have become

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in parts of

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...

. ''S. mexicana'' should not be confused with the related and somewhat shorter "Brazoria Palm", a small population of which occurs in southeast Texas, and which is a natural hybrid of ''S. palmetto'' and ''S. minor''. Naturally occurring ''S. mexicana'' in Texas may be difficult to discern, because this palm is widely planted as an ornamental, and because feral specimens easily become established. However, at least two populations in Texas have been reported to be purely natural. The most prominent is found in the 557-acre

Sabal Palm Sanctuary The Sabal Palm Sanctuary is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary located in the delta of the Rio Grande Valley in Cameron County near Brownsville, Texas. It is noted for being one of the last locations in the Rio Grande Valley with a profuse gr ...

located outside of Brownsville, Texas, along the banks of the Rio Grande. The second is on a much smaller tract located along the banks of Garcitas Creek, near Vanderbilt, Texas.

Uses

Mexican palmetto is grown as an

ornamental Ornamental may refer to: *Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration *Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work *Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental qua ...

for its robust, stately form, drought tolerance, and hardiness to USDA Zone 8. The wood is resistant to decomposition and shipworms, making it desirable for use in wharf pilings and fence posts. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are used for

thatching Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

and making straw hats. The

s and palm hearts are eaten. File:Sabal mexicana, natural state.jpg, Mature ''S. mexicana'' in natural state. File:Sabal mexicana, partially cleared.jpg, Juvenile ''S. mexicana'', partially maintained. File:Sabal mexicana boots.jpg, ''S. mexicana'', unmaintained “boots”.

References

External links

*
Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution mapInteractive Distribution Map for ''Sabal mexicana''Sabal Palm Audubon Sanctuary
{{Taxonbar, from=Q537305 Mexicana Plants described in 1838 Trees of North America Flora of Central America