A palmetto is a fan-leaved palm native to the southeastern United States, and the name covers more than one plant.1USDA Forest Service. Cabbage Palmetto Some palmettos are tall trees lining coasts and streets, while others stay knee-high shrubs that carpet pine woods. For such modest-looking plants, palmettos have an outsized history, from weaving and building to a state flag.
Is a Palmetto a Real Palm Tree
Palms are a family of flowering plants whose members grow as climbers, shrubs, stemless clumps or tree-like trunks.2Wikipedia. Arecaceae Only the tree-like ones are what people casually call palm trees.3Wikipedia. Arecaceae The cabbage palmetto is an evergreen tree that belongs to this family.4NC State Extension Plants. Sabal palmetto It is the most northerly and most abundant tree palm native to the US.5USDA Forest Service. Cabbage Palmetto It also goes by Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, sabal palm and cabbage palm.6USDA Forest Service. Cabbage Palmetto
A palm trunk is built differently from an oak or pine trunk. It does not add yearly rings or get much wider with age. It grows from a single bud at the top rather than from many branch tips, which is why a palmetto trunk is an unbranched column topped by a crown of leaves. Cutting off the top usually kills a palm, unlike pruning a broadleaf tree.
Palms are monocots, in the same large group as grasses, lilies and orchids. Some plants that look palm-like are not true palms at all. Sago palms (which are cycads) and yuccas are common in Southeast yards and cause frequent mix-ups. A true palm has leaves growing from one crown, either fan-shaped or feather-shaped, and palmettos are in the fan-shaped group.
Features That Identify a Palmetto
The cabbage palmetto’s signature is its leaf. The leaves have a shape halfway between a feather-like leaf and a flat hand-shaped fan.7Gardening Solutions. What Is a Palmetto Tree? Features, Species, and Uses The leaf stalk continues into the blade as a rib, with the leaflets joined along it.8Gardening Solutions. What Is a Palmetto Tree? Features, Species, and Uses So the leaf looks folded and droopy rather than flat.9UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County. Parsing Through the Palmettos Threadlike fibers often hang from the leaf edges.10UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County. Parsing Through the Palmettos The trunk is unbranched, and the tree is medium-sized.11USDA Forest Service. Cabbage Palmetto
On a mature tree the leaf stalk is long and unarmed, so the crown looks like a rounded head of arching fans rather than a spiky one. Old leaf bases often stay attached to the upper trunk in a crisscross pattern, and the pattern may wear away lower down as the trunk ages. Whether the trunk shows them varies with the tree’s age and surroundings, so weigh the trunk alongside the leaf.
Long branched flower stalks emerge from among the leaves. The small, creamy flowers are visited by insects, and the small dark fruits ripen in late fall and attract birds.
The Main Palmetto Species and How to Tell Them Apart
The cabbage palmetto is the tree. It grows on sandy shores, along brackish marshes and in coastal woods across the Southeast and all of peninsular Florida.12USDA Forest Service. Cabbage Palmetto
Dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) is its small, cold-hardy cousin, a widespread understory palm of the Southeast that grows near streams and rivers.13Ecologies. Little Evidence of Leaf Damage to Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor; Arecaceae) during an Unusual Arctic Outbreak14(not provided). Diversity of the dwarf palmetto: A phylogeographic analysis of the North American coastal plain and investigation of stem polymorphism in Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers Because its stem usually stays underground, it often looks stemless.15(not provided). Diversity of the dwarf palmetto: A phylogeographic analysis of the North American coastal plain and investigation of stem polymorphism in Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers Along the central Gulf Coast, though, some plants raise a trunk up to 2 meters tall.16(not provided). Diversity of the dwarf palmetto: A phylogeographic analysis of the North American coastal plain and investigation of stem polymorphism in Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers Its leaves and flowers resemble the cabbage palmetto’s because the two are close relatives in the same genus.17Home & Garden Information Center. Identifying Volunteer Native Palms in the Landscape Young cabbage palmettos can sit trunkless for years and look like dwarf palmetto.
Saw palmetto and scrub palmetto are low shrubs of dry, sandy ground. Saw palmetto has a rounder, more upright, generally smaller leaf with no fibers.18UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County. Parsing Through the Palmettos It fills the understory of coastal pine flatwoods and scrub ridges.19USDA Forest Service. East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest BpS Model/Description Scrub palmetto (Sabal etonia) also stays short, with fewer and smaller leaves suited to dry, poor soil.20PubMed. Leaf traits and leaf life spans of two xeric-adapted palmettos Each leaf can last up to 3.5 years in deep shade.21PubMed. Leaf traits and leaf life spans of two xeric-adapted palmettos Scrub palmetto’s best habitat today is limited to Florida.22PubMed Central. Climate change winners and losers: The effects of climate change on five palm species in the Southeastern United States
Saw palmetto leaf stalks have sharp saw-like teeth, which give it its name, while cabbage and dwarf palmetto stalks are smooth. A droopy, folded leaf points to Sabal, and a flat, stiff fan points to saw palmetto. Habitat narrows the choices but does not settle them, since the species overlap in places.
Saw palmetto usually has a trunk that creeps along or just under the ground rather than standing upright, which is why leaves often arise right from the soil. These stems can branch and form large, dense colonies, so a thicket may be one connected plant. Dry, poor soil and shade both limit growth, so a saw or scrub palmetto may look the same from year to year even though it is decades old.
Why Palmettos Survive Hurricanes, Fire and Cold
Cabbage palmetto ranks among the trees most likely to survive hurricane winds in the Southeast.23Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF). Hurricanes and the Urban Forest: I. Effects on Southeastern United States Coastal Plain Tree Species Palms can lose every leaf without losing their growing point, the single bud at the top from which new leaves come.24Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (AUF). Hurricanes and the Urban Forest: II. Effects on Tropical and Subtropical Tree Species Palmetto wood is also built from tiny fibers bundled into larger ones within a softer matrix, which helps it resist breaking under sudden extreme force.25Elsevier / Materials Science and Engineering: C. Multiscale mechanical and structural characterizations of Palmetto wood for bio-inspired hierarchically structured polymer composites A palm trunk is a column of bundled fibers rather than solid layers of wood, so it bends in strong wind instead of snapping. Leaves that tear or strip away reduce the surface the wind pushes against.
Palms also grow a mass of similar thin roots from the base of the trunk rather than one deep taproot. This fibrous mass spreads outward and holds a lot of soil, anchoring the trunk in sandy ground. Extreme flooding and saturated soil can still loosen a palm, so toughness is a high likelihood rather than a guarantee.
After a storm, a palmetto may be stripped to a bare trunk with a ragged crown. If the central bud survived, new leaves usually emerge over the following weeks to months. Avoid cutting the top or trimming the green fronds, since the growing point is the plant’s only source of new growth.
Saw palmetto survives fire because layers of older waxy leaves wrap and insulate its growing point like an onion.26EDIS. The Fire Ecology of Saw Palmetto In cabbage palms, fire kills only the smallest plants, whose growing points sit near the soil with few protective leaf bases.27Forest Ecology and Management. Fire resistance of cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) in the southeastern USA Cabbage palm seedlings survive damage well and can become more common after fire, logging or hurricanes.28PubMed. The role of carbohydrate reserves in the growth, resilience, and persistence of cabbage palm seedlings (Sabal palmetto) A blackened palmetto after a prescribed burn is often not a lost plant.
Dwarf palmetto is one of the two most cold-tolerant palms.29(not provided). Diversity of the dwarf palmetto: A phylogeographic analysis of the North American coastal plain and investigation of stem polymorphism in Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers Through a severe arctic blast, wild plants from Oklahoma to Texas kept a median of 85% of their leaves green.30Ecologies. Little Evidence of Leaf Damage to Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor; Arecaceae) during an Unusual Arctic Outbreak Planted dwarf palmettos north of the native range kept only about 5% green.31Ecologies. Little Evidence of Leaf Damage to Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor; Arecaceae) during an Unusual Arctic Outbreak So if you plant a palmetto outside its home range, choose plants from local or nearby native sources, and protect young plants in their first years, since they are the most vulnerable to cold and fire.
How People Have Used Palmettos
Louisiana’s Houma people wove palmetto leaf baskets for almost every household task, even carrying babies.32louisianalife.com. Passing it On They also made hats, fans, blowguns and houses from palmetto.33louisianalife.com. Passing it On Seminole and Miccosukee baskets of cane and palmetto were used to gather and process food.34South Florida Archaeology & Ethnography. Seminole Basket Collection Overview The leaves suit weaving because they can be split into strips, and their fibers twisted into cord or woven into flexible, sturdy items. They are also large and plentiful in the Southeast, and harvesting leaves takes only part of the plant.
Fronds served as thatch to roof houses and shelters, shedding rain while letting heat escape. Palm trunk logs were used where a sturdy post or wall was needed. Seminole and Miccosukee chickee-style shelters in Florida are a well-known example of palm thatch roofing.
The cabbage palm name comes from the tender bud at the top, eaten as a vegetable called heart of palm or swamp cabbage. Harvesting it kills the tree, because the bud is the growing point. Cutting wild palms is often restricted, so don’t harvest them.
Extract from ripe saw palmetto berries is widely used in Europe for urinary trouble caused by an enlarged prostate.35PubMed Central. Pharmacological effects of saw palmetto extract in the lower urinary tract It is usually sold as capsules or tablets for a condition that is common in older men. Older pooled studies found modest relief, such as fewer nighttime bathroom trips, with mild side effects.36JAMA. Saw Palmetto Extracts for Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Systematic Review But a later large, careful 72-week trial found saw palmetto worked no better than a dummy pill, even at higher doses.37JAMA. Effect of Increasing Doses of Saw Palmetto Extract on Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Randomized Trial The supplement appears safe, but whether it helps is doubtful.
Products are not made to one standard, so the same label can hide big differences in what is inside. Men with urinary symptoms should see a doctor rather than rely on the supplement, since an enlarged prostate has proven treatments. Tell your doctor before starting it, especially if you take other prostate medicines.
Why the Palmetto Is South Carolina’s Symbol
In June 1776, the palmetto-log Fort Moultrie absorbed British cannonballs, helping win the battle.38SC Picture Project. Palmetto Tree – SC Picture Project The walls were palmetto trunks packed with sand, a quick way to build a defense from local materials. The soft, fibrous logs blunted the shots rather than splintering, and the defenders held while the British fleet withdrew.
The palmetto became South Carolina’s symbol of liberty.39SC Picture Project. Palmetto Tree – SC Picture Project It was placed on the state seal in 1777 and the state flag in 1860.40SC Picture Project. Palmetto Tree – SC Picture Project The tree on the flag is the cabbage palmetto, which is also the official state tree.
Palmettos and Wildlife
Bears41National Tropical Botanical Garden. Tropical Plant Database – Plant Details: Sabal palmetto, raccoons, deer, turkeys, jays, woodpeckers and squirrels eat palmetto fruit.42US Forest Service Research and Development. Sabal palmetto, cabbage palmetto43National Tropical Botanical Garden. Tropical Plant Database – Plant Details: Sabal palmetto Palmetto fruit makes up about a quarter of the diet of raccoons and robins in the Southeast.44National Tropical Botanical Garden. Tropical Plant Database – Plant Details: Sabal palmetto The crop arrives when many other foods are running low, so it feeds animals heading into winter.
Deer do not browse the foliage.45US Forest Service Research and Development. Sabal palmetto, cabbage palmetto They will eat fallen fruit but leave the leaves alone, so a palmetto planting usually survives browsing. To keep palmettos useful for wildlife, leave fruit stalks in place rather than trimming them in fall.
Lethal bronzing is a fatal bacterial disease of cabbage palms.46PubMed Central. Identification of Green-Leaf Volatiles Released from Cabbage Palms (Sabal palmetto) Infected with the Lethal Bronzing Phytoplasma Infected palms give off stress odors, which may help with early detection.47PubMed Central. Identification of Green-Leaf Volatiles Released from Cabbage Palms (Sabal palmetto) Infected with the Lethal Bronzing Phytoplasma On a yard palm, watch for older lower fronds turning bronze or reddish brown, and for the spear leaf at the top dying. Call your county extension office for testing. Infected palms are usually removed to slow the spread.