Photo by Scott Zona


Photo by Scott Zona

Height: 4-9 feet, but usually not higher than 4-5′
Spread: 4-8 feet


LANDSCAPE USE
Used as a shrubby specimen palm or as part of a planted shrub under­story. Particularly well suited for retention ponds, drainage swales, canal banks, parking lots, and other difficult areas. Cold hardy, this palm is frequently used in other southeastern states.

FORM
A trunkless fan palm with several leaves and a long flowering stalk rising well above the leaf blades.

NATIVE RANGE
Moist woods, bottoms of rich slopes, and edges of floodplains.
Wide-ranging across the southern United States from North Carolina, southward to central Florida, and west to east Texas.

CHARACTERISTICS
Flowers: Tiny, white, borne in somewhat showy clusters on 3- to 5-foot-long, branching stalks. Spring and summer.
Leaves: Fan shaped, deeply divided, bluish green to dark green, 2-4 feet broad and long, borne on long stalks that lack the sharp marginal teeth of the Saw Palmetto.
Fruit: Small, rounded, shiny black, conspicuous. Fall.

CULTURE
Soil: Often occurs naturally in rich, moist soil with pH 5.5-6.5, but will adapt to a variety of soil types and dry situa­tions. Very adaptable to most soils EXCEPT high pH. Slightly salt tolerant.
Exposure: Full sun to shade. Can get taller in deep shade. Very cold tolerant.
Water: Performs best in moist situations, but tolerant of drier sites after becoming established.
Hardiness Zones: 7 to 10.
Life Span: Moderately long-lived; exceeding 50 years.

BEST FEATURES including WILDLIFE SUPPORT
Excellent specimen where a palmlike shrub is de­sired, or for use in naturalistic settings. Adaptable to a variety of soils, very hardy, and useful for landscaping in difficult situations as described above. Fall-ripening fruit is consumed by an array of wildlife from small mammals to birds, including, for example, Cedar Waxwings. The flowers are an exceptional nectar source for many pollinators.

COMPANION PLANTS
Box Elder and Red Maple (Acer negundo and A. rubrum), Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), Red Bay and Swamp Bay (Persea borbonia and P. palustris), Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum and V. elliottii), Possumhaw Holly (Ilex decidua), and Tupelos (Nyssa spp.).

SIMILAR AND RELATED SPECIES
Vegetatively similar to Needle Palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), but lacking the Needle Palm’s spiny trunk. Distinguished from Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) by the lack of saw-like teeth along the leaf stalk.

Wise Hands in St. Petersburg is producing a “Brooksville” selection of Sabal minor that may not reach a height greater than 4 feet tall.