Sabal minor

Common Name

Blue-stem Palmetto, Dwarf Palmetto

Description

Stems: Solitary, subterranean, rarely growing upright to 2 m tall. Leaves: Minorly costapalmate, induplicate, grayish green, circular, almost in a single plane or slightly folded, segments stiff and split about half the length of the blade with few or no fibers between segments, tips slightly bifid. Leaf split almost to the costa, dividing the blade nearly in half. Petiole unarmed. Flowers and fruits: Inflorescence sparsely branched to two orders, longer than leaves. When ripe, fruits are spherical to ovoid, brown or black drupes to 6-10 mm long.

Diagnostic Features

Field: Solitary, unarmed, usually subterranean palm with weakly costapalmate, grayish green leaves, split almost to the costa, dividing the blade nearly in half. Inflorescence sparsely branched to two orders, longer than leaves.

May be confused with

Sabal etonia, but its leaves are yellow-green and strongly costapalmate, with abundant marginal fibers

Distribution

Native to the southern United States from North Carolina to Texas and northeast Mexico

Additional Comments

This genus is among the most common in and around the Caribbean region and among the few native to the continental United States.

Scientific Name

Sabal minor (Jacq.) Pers.

Family

Arecaceae/Palmae

Synonyms

Corypha minor Jacquin

Chamaerops acaulis Michaux

Chamaerops louisiana W. Darby

Corypha pumila Walter

Sabal adansonii Guersent

Sabal deeringiana Small

Sabal louisiana (W. Darby) Bomhard

Sabal pumila (Walter) Elliott

Sabal minor habit, individual palm

Sabal minor juvenile leaf form, split nearly into two halves

Sabal minor leaf costa (abaxial view of leaf)

Sabal minor closer view of flowers

Sabal minor fruits.  Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php 

Sabal minor habit, in unusually large cluster

Sabal minor habit, young individual

Sabal minor leaf hastula (adaxial view of leaf)

Sabal minor flowers

Sabal minor inflorescence extending beyond leaves with a roughly 2 m tall human for length comparison

Sabal minor seeds (mm scale). Photograph courtesy of Mariana P. Beckman, DPI 

Sabal minor habit, in unusually large cluster

Sabal minor habit, individual palm

Sabal minor habit, young individual

Sabal minor juvenile leaf form, split nearly into two halves

Sabal minor leaf hastula (adaxial view of leaf)

Sabal minor leaf costa (abaxial view of leaf)

Sabal minor flowers

Sabal minor closer view of flowers

Sabal minor inflorescence extending beyond leaves with a roughly 2 m tall human for length comparison

Sabal minor fruits.  Photograph courtesy of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Guide to Palms http://palmguide.org/index.php 

Sabal minor seeds (mm scale). Photograph courtesy of Mariana P. Beckman, DPI 
February 15, 2011