Sabal minor is usually a small palm with a subterranean trunk; however, one can find individuals with larger features and well-developed aerial stems. In Louisiana, these individuals were recognized as separate species (J. K. Small 1929; M. L. Bomhard 1935), but more recently they have been treated as merely ecological variants of a single widespread species (A. Henderson et al. 1995; P. F. Ramp and L. B. Thien 1995; S. Zona 1990). Large emergent forms of S. minor were even thought by B. J. Simpson (1988) to be hybrids of that species with S. palmetto, but his claim is undocumented and unsubstantiated.
An unusual habitat for this species, a dry hillside in central Texas, was illustrated by L. Lockett (1991).
Sabal minor, commonly known as the dwarf palmetto,[4] is a small species of palm. It is native to the deep southeastern and south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. It is naturally found in a diversity of habitats, including maritime forests, swamps, floodplains, and occasionally on drier sites.[5] It is often found growing in calcareous marl soil.[6] Sabal minor is one of the most frost and cold tolerant among North American palms.
This palm's native range spans on the Atlantic Coast from central Florida north to Monkey Island, North Carolina.[6] On the Gulf Coast, it spans from central Florida to central Texas, Arkansas, north to southern Oklahoma and northern Alabama, then south in the State of Nuevo León in Mexico.[3]
Sabal Minor grows up to 3 meters in height, with a trunk up to 30 centimetres (12 in) diameter. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is 1.5–2 metres (4 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) long, with 40 leaflets up to 80 centimetres (31 in) long, conjoined over half of this length. The flowers are yellowish-white, 5 millimetres (0.20 in) across, produced in large compound panicles up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe 1 to 1.3 centimetres (0.39 to 0.51 in) long containing a single seed.[5]
Sabal minor is one of the most cold hardy palms in cultivation; however, it does best when grown in hot and humid tropical summer conditions, and may struggle or grow slowly in cool summer climates. It is leaf hardy to near 0 °F (−18 °C), and has been known to survive brief periods of −5 °F (−21 °C) temperatures. It is generally cultivated in subtropical and warm temperate climates. S. minor can grow in a wide variety of soil types, and is often found submerged in swamps in the southeastern United States. It grows in both full sun and shaded locations, though it will do best in the cooler garden zones (below zone USDA 7) in full sun and a wind sheltered location.
In the United States, since the 1960s, cultivation of Sabal minor has spread beyond the deep southern United States. S. minor is cultivated along the East Coast from Florida to coastal Connecticut, and on the West Coast from Vancouver BC south to San Diego. It is a recommended horticultural plant by the Virginia Cooperative Extension.[7] There are several cultivars, including those from the Outer Banks of North Carolina (northernmost strains), and those from Oklahoma and Texas. One popular strain is 'McCurtain', named after McCurtain County, Oklahoma, where they are native. These tend to remain trunkless and smaller than those from warmer areas. S. minor is a popular landscape palm in coastal resort areas from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to southern Texas.
Dwarf palmettos (Sabal minor) at Palmetto State Park, Texas (2 June 2007)
Sabal minor and resurrection fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) growing on oak limb, Big Thicket National Preserve, Hardin Co. Texas (23 October 2019)
Sabal minor grouping in natural setting.
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A dwarf palmetto frond in Congaree National Park, South Carolina (8 November 2008)
Sabal minor in saltwater marsh habitat, Hatteras North Carolina.
Sabal minor often start showing a trunk once they get very old. This example is around 100 years old in Frisco, NC.
Sabal minor and the needle palm, also from the Southeast, are some of the world's most freeze-hardy palm species.
Young Sabal minor
A naturalistic planting of Sabal minor outside the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Sabal minor - MHNT
Sabal minor, commonly known as the dwarf palmetto, is a small species of palm. It is native to the deep southeastern and south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. It is naturally found in a diversity of habitats, including maritime forests, swamps, floodplains, and occasionally on drier sites. It is often found growing in calcareous marl soil. Sabal minor is one of the most frost and cold tolerant among North American palms.
