Sabal Palm or Cabbage PalmettoArecaceae Sabal palmetto
Leaf
Alternate, palmately compound, fan shaped; leaflets very long (4 to 6 feet) and lance shaped, leaf stalks are long, extend through the leaf, and arewithout sharp edges; green in color, overall leaf nearly round and several feetlong.
Flower
Small white flowers occurring on large (several feet), branched clusters,appearing in early summer.
Fruit
Fleshy drupe, nearly round, 1/3 to 1/2 inch across, dark shiny blue, maturing in early fall and persistent into the winter.
Twig
Absent, since leaves appear directly out of unbranched trunk.
Bark
Gray brown, tough, splits vertically.
Form
Tall (to 80 feet), straight trunk with a short rounded crown.
Copyright 2019 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental
Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen,
Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson;Silvics reprinted from Ag
Handbook 654; range map source information
