Sabal palm or Cabbage palm : Sabal palmetto


Kingdom : Plantae
   Phylum : : Magnoliophyta
          Class : Liliopsida
               Order : Arecales
                    Family : Arecaceae
                         Genus : Sabal
                              Species : palmetto Thunb.

Common name: Sago palm, cabbage palm

Cabbage palm, Photo by David Byres Description:

Branchless trees with straight trunk up to 25 m in height, crown globose with large fan-like leaves.

Leaves 1 m across and 1-2 m wide divided into filamentous segments with drooping tips.

Petioles are smooth and as long or longer than blades, bases of petiole persistent covering the upper trunk, below the persistent leaf bases the trunk is marked by leaf scars.

Inflorescence large, 1-2 m, arching or drroping panicle from leaf axils.

Flowers small, creamy white, borne in large numbers.

Fruit a drupe, black, 8-12 mm in diameter.


Habitat:

Brackish marshes, maritime forests, moist hammocks and flatwoods.


Distribution:

Coastal plain of southeastern North Carolina south throughout Florida and Florida Keys, also in Bahamas and Cuba.

Flowering cabbage palm, Photo by David Byres

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