Sabal palmetto Information
A solitary, large, salt-tolerant, slow growing, monoecious palm. Common in cultivation, and common in the wild. It has a rough, light-grey trunk, 24 m. (80 ft.) tall, 23 cm. (9 inch) diameter with no obvious leaf scars, and large partially segmented, palmate (fan) leaves, 1.8 m. (6 ft.) long, 1.5 m. (5 ft.) wide, dark green above and beneath.
The leaves are deeply costapalmate, the costa recurved.
Sabal palmetto can tolerate freezing temperatures to about -16°C (3.1°F) or even a little colder under certain circumstances. However, this is not a norm., and ideally you should not try to subject this palm to these temperatures. The palm prefers short winters and as much summer heat as it can find under temperate conditions. It grows very slowly when starved of adequate summer heat. This is a lowland species and likes its roots in damp, even wet soil, but overly wet soil is best avoided in climates with a long duration of freezing weather. Although this palm is usually seen as an understory palm, and grows under a tree canopy, in less than favourable climates we recommend that you plant it as an understory palm but in a southerly facing position where it can be subjected to maximum winter sunshine.
General Information:
Rich soils, near water.
Distribution:
Native to, Bahamas, Cuba, USA