Dwarf Palmetto

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.
Dwarf Palmetto (Sabal minor) Observed by my sister in Centre, Alabama on November 14, 2021. By a creek in a mixed forested area (she said there were several along the creek). She gave me permission to post this here! I was surprised for her to send me this photo as this species is not typically this far North! Geotagged,Sabal minor,United States

Appearance

''Sabal Minor'' grows up to 3 meters in height, with a trunk up to 30 centimetres diameter. It is a fan palm , with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is 1.5–2 metres long, with 40 leaflets up to 80 centimetres long, conjoined over half of this length. The flowers are yellowish-white, 5 millimetres across, produced in large compound panicles up to 2 metres long, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe 1 to 1.3 centimetres long containing a single seed.

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.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassMonocots
OrderArecales
FamilyArecaceae
GenusSabal
SpeciesS. minor
Photographed in
United States of America