Sabal Palmetto, AKA the Cabbage Palm!
Today, we’re diving into what makes the sabal palmetto special—from its biology and wildlife value to its cultural history—and how Floridians can help protect and support this iconic native plant.
Learn More:
What is a tree? https://extension.usu.edu/forestry/trees-cities-towns/tree-selection/what-is-a-tree
Sabal palmetto: Sabal or Cabbage Palm https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST575
Sorting out the Florida Sabal Palms https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR357
How You Can Help:
If you’re adding palms to your landscaping, consider adding a native cabbage palm instead of a nonnative palm.
Protect what’s growing – Remember, sabal palm trunks do not self-heal like “normal” trees would – take care to avoid damaging them! Defend them against weedwhackers and other trauma.
Practice responsible pruning - Don’t remove green fronds unnecessarily; fronds provide food and energy for the palm. Unless the frond is dry and brown,the tree still needs it. If you MUST prune, prune responsibly – only fronds that hang down and have already started to die off. (Learn more)
Support conservation, Observe, andAppreciate our State Tree - Take a moment to notice sabal palms in your community—and thebirds and wildlife they support.
Sources:
Cabbage palm – Sabal palmetto https://ffgs.ifas.ufl.edu/tree-tour/cabbage-palm/
Sabal Palm https://www.nps.gov/places/000/sabal-palm.htm
Sabal palmetto: Investigating the ecological importanceof Florida’s state tree https://www.proquest.com/openview/22f53c0e4a34046d4bb033c747102003/1?cbl=18750&pq-origsite=gscholar
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST575
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR357
Transcript:
Speaker 1 00:05
On today's episode, we're
Speaker 2 00:06
Kicking off season 6 with Florida state tree, the stable Palmetto real quick. We wanted to give a huge thank you to those of you that took time out of your very busy lives to complete our annual podcast survey. It's very, very important information for us, and the results are so exciting to Shannon and I, just for example, so you know what your fellow listeners are doing as a result of listening to this podcast, so we had 76 percent of you. That said, you've adopted suggestions to. Implement actions to reduce negative encounters with Wildlife, and another 75 percent of you indicated that, as a result of listening to our podcast, you've reached out! You've contacted a company organization or even elected official to express your support or concern over different practices or policies, so it's really exciting to us to see the impact of our podcast, and we just want to thank you for taking the time to do that, and we hope that more of you will tune in and provide your feedback at the end of this year.
Speaker 1 01:05
Welcome to
Speaker 2 01:06
Naturally Florida, a podcast about Florida's natural areas and the wild things that live here. I'm Lara Milligan and I'm Shannon Carnavale. This podcast is brought to you by UF ifas extension and Polk and Pinellas counties.
Speaker 1 01:23
Shannon, can you believe we're starting
Speaker 2 01:24
Season six of Naturally Florida? I cannot, but at the same time, it does feel like we've been doing this long enough to know what we're doing. One would think, no, but we are super excited to be back and not talking about hurricanes. Thank you for those of you that tuned in for our four-part series at the end of last year. If you missed that, you're welcome to go back and listen to it, or you can wait till hurricane season this year if you want. Today, we are going to switch gears and talk about our native Palms that we have in Florida and specifically, we're going to dive into one particular species. Able Palmetto. I love disable tomato, so disabled Palmetto being our most widespread tree forming Palm native to Florida is a great place for us to start with palm trees, don't you think? Yeah, for sure, and I feel like it's really iconic Florida. Maybe that's more of an if you're a native Floridian. I feel like if you're not from Florida, people cry. Think of the coconut palm, but for those that are the rare breed of Shannon and Lara that are native Floridians. Palmetto is pretty iconic. Yeah, especially if you've been hiking through the middle of the state, really all through, like the Heartland area. Or if you go hunting a lot or are ranching, you see these everywhere. Driving through, like the back roads of Florida, and they're really fantastic. So, like, always, I am a word nerd, so we're gonna kick this off with. What are the words Sable and Palmetto, and how do they have to do with our palms? So, unlike some of the other genus that we have discussed on the pada?
Table in the genus. So, the origin of this word is hotly debated online. Some say it is part of indigenous languages. Others say it comes from various colonizing languages. Other people still say it has nothing to do with the area or the people and has a lot more to do with the color of some of the branching. So hotly debated, so the Sable genus was first described by French botanist Michelle adenson in 1763, and this genus is part of the.
Is only important if you're a taxonomist for the rest of us. The reason, it's so exciting, is, we do have four different species of palm native to Florida that are in the genus Sable. We have another Palm that is also known by the common name Palmetto. So, Lara said that this is sable palmetto that is the scientific binomial. So, this second word, the species word palmetto is thought to be of Spanish origin. The word for little palm, palmido, and so while we have it in the common name of five different Palms, only four of them are actually in the genus Sable, so you've got the saw palmetto, which is actually in what genus Lara Sarah.
Right. When we talked about that in our prescribed fire episode, among other episodes, we've talked about this all Palmetto a lot. It's also just called Palmetto when people mention that, but we have lots of problems with Palmetto, the four in the Sable genus are Sable palmetto, the subject of today's episode, which is also known as the Cabbage Palm. So, if you didn't know what we were talking about until just this moment. Now you know what tree we're talking about, and then we've got the other three, which are Sable, atonia, Sable, minor and Sable, miamiensis and the Miami Palmetto disabled Miami incest is rare, possibly extinct, so you're probably not.
Show us what we're here to talk about today, and as you can see, common names get very confusing. We've kind of hinted at this over many episodes, but if we just prefer to things as Palmetto, especially if you're talking to a scientist, they're not going to know which species you're talking about. So, for today, you're going to hear Lara and I refer to this tree by many different names, you'll hear City Sable Palmetto. You'll probably hear cabbage Palm more than a few times out of me, because that's what I refer to it as.
Meadow tree. You can hear all of those depending on who you're talking to. Yeah, I think it's one of the few species too, that where sometimes what people say Fable Palmetto is that is the scientific name like it's where the common name is also scientific meme. I don't really think there's many other species that fall into that category so you can already consider yourself a botanist there you go. That's so exciting, because when we all use a common vocabulary, a shared vocabulary about the things in our natural world that we're trying to talk about. We have better communication. Speaking of vocabulary related to the Cabbage Palm, though. It a tree or a shrub? Oh my gosh, is it a tree? Ah, that's the million dollar question that we probably could spend the rest of the episode debating or talking about. Guided hikes. This is definitely something that's brought up very frequently to me. I mean, we're both trained in forestry, right? But to me, if you were to describe a tree, right? It's like one made trunk really tall, big. Like to me, I would classify it as a tree. Looks like a tree. It's a tree. I know, you maybe have different feelings. Mm-Hmm, I do. It is tree-like, I'll give it that. That's a good way to put it. What's your aunt? What's your uh, anti-tree debate? Oh, like, I said, it's not antitree. It's tree-like. It doesn't repair itself like a tree, and so when we start talking about how trees grow and how trees react to stress and Trauma, this tree-like plant cannot do those things. Doesn't have tree rings. Not yet. Tree rings are pretty critical, which actually gets to a really key defining characteristic. And believe it or not, finding a true Botanical definition of a tree. What makes a tree a tree? I not sure actually exists out there. There's different people that kind of Define it differently. One that I found to stay with me here. There are several components that kind of define a tree. One is that it's a woody plant hold on to that thought, and I know Shannon's holding holding on strong for dear life, one erect and a main trunk or stem at least three inches in diameter, and this specifies at four and a half feet above the ground, which is just a standard place that you take that measurement. It has it clearly defined Crown kind of thing like canopy and then mature height of at least 13 feet. So the stable?
Oh, so kind of the main thing that, well, there are several main things, but when it gets back to the debate, so as Shane alluded to with it, not repairing itself Sable. Palmetto's first of all, they do not have true bark, which I know that wasn't in the definition, but that's kind of in terms of what Shannon was getting at. They are more of a fibrous they don't. They're not truly a Woody. It's not a woody stem.
Structure, so it's not like any other true tree that you would see, so it's actually a monocot, which makes it so when people say, oh, it's actually a grass. It's not a tree. It's more closely related to grasses. So it has, Shannon said. I think it's tree-like, but technically speaking, it's not a tree. So if you want to end that debate with your family or carry on the debate. You can take some points for me and Shannon and run with it. I will say I will give the tree side of the argument it. I think it is more tree-like than grass-like there. I'll give it that it is more tree-like than a grass. But when we start talking about, like, how to grow and manage trees, half of the things are the?
And it is not unique to the Cabbage Palm. This is all palm trees. So, I'm not just picking on this one, which I already said is one of my favorites so. But we're gonna get back into the tree thing later. So anyway, moving, moving on. Okay, so the same old Palmetto is native to Florida. If we didn't already make that clear, but it also extends up the coast all the way up into Georgia and South Carolina and even North Carolina, so you'll see it all on the coast. And I know Shannon talked a lot about Inland, but you can also find them in Marshy areas. Like, I remember canoeing up the Suwanee, and they were all along there, you know, again. Once I got closer to the coastal area so they're iconic all throughout Florida about.
All over Landscapes throughout the southeast. So, this is one of our native species that has taken really well to Landscaping and transplants fairly well, so you will see cabbage bombs planted all the way throughout their native range, but also Beyond it into other states where you might not naturally find cabbage, Palms, and so, Lara, why don't you describe what a couch bomb looks like, because I don't think we've talked about that yet?
What people are envisioning in their brain is actually what we're talking about. So, for the leaves of the Sable palmetto, these are massive. We're talking three to four foot. Fan shaped leaves three to four feet okay, huge, and the leaf stem, or What's called the petiole. It can be up to six feet long, so it's a very, very long Leaf stem, and then this giant fan shaped leaf that sits at the end of that, and the main stem actually runs up through the leaf, and so it kind of gives it this folded or curved appearance. Two key features and characteristics look for when it comes to the leaves and the leaf stem. Yeah, and if you're familiar with saw palmetto, it looks very similar. Just like on steroids, it's so much bigger Salt Palmetto Leaf, but it doesn't have the teeth on the stem on the petiole rather, and it has that curve. So, where a saw palmetto will be a flat fan. This will be the folded fan that I was just mentioning. Good key, distinguishing two good key distinguishing characteristics, and I get that question a lot. So, another really important, identifying characteristic, especially from afar, is you can tell what these palm trees are by what they look like. So, if you're picturing like the big swooshy palm trees and the commercials. That is not what a cabbage Palm looks like. It looks more like a truffler tree amazing Dr Seuss, so the when they're mature and their canopy is full.
Canopy on top of this palm trunk, and they can be very, very tall. The trunks can be anywhere from, you know, about 10 inches wide to, on average, 16 inches, but the ones in my backyard are way bigger than that. It just depends on the individual, and they can get really, really tall. So, on average, they kind of max out around 40, but I have seen in other Publications that they can also get up to 80 feet tall, so it.
From afar. What will stick out to you? Is there will be a circle of com fronds? There'll be green at the top and brown at the bottom where they're starting to fall down. They like, hang down vertically. That's important. We're going to talk about that again later, and then you'll have the long trunk under them. It is truly an iconic site in Florida, like Lara mentioned at the beginning of the episode, yeah, and you brought up a good point with those brown palm frons, which I know probably does not sound appealing to anyone, but it does, too, bats.
And say to leave when the palm fron's kind of collapse down, they've done their business. They still hang on the tree and a lot of people don't like the look of that. The Aesthetics of that, however, if you were a fan of wildlife, it's strongly encouraged to keep those there because it provides excellent habitat for particular bat species, which Shannon can talk about if she wants.
Yes, so the bats that will live in these fronds are the Florida or Eastern or Northern. They have all sorts of names yellow bats, and they're found all throughout Florida, except the keys. They're one of our larger bat species. They have a wingspan of 14 to 16 in, and a body length of almost 3 in. They're so cute as a big bat, being less than 3 in Long, they camouflage really, really. Well, they Roost in small families in those dead palm frond fr.
That might imply, and it also has some brownish gray in it, so they are camouflaged perfectly for these dead Palmetto fronds, and they love them. Yeah, and it's not only the fronds that are beneficial. There's the flowers and the fruit that this tree also provides. So we've probably talked about with the saw palmetto, the flowers being very beneficial for pollinators. So the flowers on the Sable Palmetto are similar in terms of what they look like they're very fragrant. They're they're.
Very obvious, even like from the car driving on the highway. So lots of pollinators are attracted to the flowers, so critical source of nectar. And then, of course, we know what happens after polyers visit a flower successfully. They will turn into fruit, which are then consumed by a number of different species. I could list them out. I'll list some of the main ones. The list was very long. If you include all the species, but broadly deer are huge fans of the fruit bear, raccoon squirrels, and different bird species of a.
Another cool part of this tree are the boots, and when I say boots, what I'm talking about is, if you can, picture a cabbage palm. If you know it, they look like they have the base of the stem. It splits and wraps around the tree and that kind of D or y shaped connection to the tree is referred to as a boot and those boots. When they stick out. They collect a bunch of things they collect seeds. They collect ferns. They collect all sorts of plants, and it is. Find some of our threatened and endangered species as well, specifically in the fern family, but you might also in South Florida. Catch something called a Strangler fig and Strangler. Figs are a really cool plant to learn about that. We might need to talk about in a different episode, but it all starts in the boots, and it's a part of our diverse and dynamic ecosystem. Feature. If you want to call it that when it comes to Sable Palmettos is, they have incredibly high resistance to strong winds. Which one would think is probably good adaptation if you're going to be a native tree species in Florida, so it's pretty fascinating to watch this Sable Palmettos during a hurricane. If you're in a safe space and able to look out a window which you probably shouldn't be in the peak of the storm anyway.
The wind, but they're especially not even being a. Tree with the Woody structure to support them. Their fibers are holding them up. It's crazy, but they're very, very wind resistant. Yeah, that's a very good point. Lyra, and also now that we've talked about how cool they are and how tough they are and how you can find them all throughout Florida and the Carolinas. I think it's time to talk about why we decided to talk about this tree today, and that is that the Cabbage Palm or a Sable Palmetto is the state tree for two states, one of them being Florida. That's why we were so interested in talking about it today, but it is also this date tree for South Carolina. Carolina. If you've ever been there, you will see the Sable Palmetto feature not only it's on their state seal. It's on their flag and pretty much every touristy thing that you'll buy there. Tree will be featured even the state quarters. If you remember, those stable Palm was featured on there, and some people even refer to South Carolina as the Palmetto State, so we do share the state tree. Florida also includes disabled Palmetto in our flag and our seal. However, that was not always the case, so our state seal was established by the legislator in 1868, and it included the description that the seal would include.
In the distance, a cocoa tree will come back to that. A steamboat on water and an Indian female scattering flowers in the foreground encircled by the words Great Seal of the State of Florida In God, We Trust. It also said as a part of this that Florida was never allowed to change this. About a hundred years later. In 1970, the Florida legislature did make a change to the official description of the state seal. And that was, they changed the words Cocoa tree to Sable Palmetto Palm, and so that is the point in which we start to see disabled palmetto in our state seal, and as a result in our state flag, because that is the seal in the middle of the flag. And that's really cool, and the Sable Palmetto was designated.
Ever since, it has been featured in all things Florida that we see. And I just, I love to see it, but it has a lot of cultural significance in the state as well. Yeah, so we have been saying the term Cabbage Palm quite a bit, and that is because the terminal bud of this tree kind of the growing portion of the tree. Edible, and it's referred to as swamp cabbage. So, if you've ever traveled around the state, maybe seen somebody selling small cabbage on the side of the road. That is what they are trying to sell. You can even buy it in the stores. It's called Heart of palm in the stores. Thank you! That's yes, wouldn't be called swamp cabbage in the groceries. Terms of the fruit and the seeds. Really, all parts of this plant historically by indigenous cultures. They found a way to use all parts of this tree, whether they were eating the berries themselves. Seeds could even be grounded to flour again. We've talked about swamp cabbage, so, and you've probably seen batched roofs where they're using the prawns from the Sable palm, and that is a technique Lara will never understand or Master how they do that and where it's like, totally waterproof, but it's incredible if.
Is an elementary school. Our elementary school had a very good working relationship with the Seminole tribe of Florida, and so they came out to our school, and they built a Tiki Hut on in our nature area of the elementary school. And so, we got to participate, not in the building, because you know, kindergarten, America, but we had, but we had all kinds of celebrations around the chicky hat and learning about the cultural significance of it to the Seminole tribe of Florida. And it was really, really.
Beautiful, and I'm so grateful that we got to participate in that in school because we learned so much about the Seminole tribe and the ways that they use the Sable Palmetto. It's a great way to connect with the cultures that were that were here, and using those trees and still are. That's so cool. Shannon, and it kind of gets to one of our calls to action, which is really just to learn to appreciate the Sable Palmetto, whether it's for its historical cultural usage, how we might still be using it today, or just appreciating it in your landscape, whether that's.
Them in your front or backyard. If you are considering adding a palm tree to your landscape, Lara and I would love to recommend our native Sable Palmetto as a contender for that spot near landscape. This is a wonderful, medium-sized tree that you can add to your yard, and as we've already mentioned in the episode is very wind resistant, hearty, and contributes a lot of habitat. And if you already have a cabbage Palm in your yard, remember what Shannon said about how these trees don't have the ability to repair themselves? That you keep them protected from things like lawn mowers or weed whackers because they just don't. They don't heal as quickly or easily, and it exposes them to different diseases and things like that, so. Avoid damaging them where you can, and definitely. If you want to have them, don't try and harvest your tree to make your own swamp cabbage, not recommended. Another and our final call to action is if you have to prune them, prune them responsibly, and so this is where Lara and I. Our program May differ from some of our Horticultural colleagues. We recommend not pruning them at all. And leave all the fronds on the tree, even the dead ones they provide. All that habitat we talked about, and if you would like other recommendations for pruning. If you need to cut the green ones, we will put a link in our show notes to the recommendations for palm pruning from our Horticultural colleagues. I, I feel like I really want to reiterate this point because it's it really is like up there with one of my pet peeves when I see over pruning of these beautiful precious trees, and they not only look sad and pathetic, but you're literally paying for somebody to basically kill your palm trees, so it's just not good. Slowly, slowly, it's, and sadly, yeah. So when, if they look sad. And, like, maybe that's not how a tree should look that go with your gut, because that is not how they should look.
Talked about working with certified arborists in the past, but make sure that you're working with a professional landscape company, one that's well reputable, and you know, and you can ask them that they're going to prune appropriately. And with that, we will wrap up today's episode. We hope that you enjoyed learning about our state tree, the stable Palmetto, and we will catch you on our next episode.
Thanks!