Sabal palmetto
Common: Cabbage palmetto, Cabbage palm, Carolina palmetto, Sabal palm
Family: Arecaceae (Palmae)
Origin: USA native palm occurs near the coast, from Southeastern North Carolina to the Florida Keys, including the coast of northwest Florida. Occurs along sandy shores, often in crowded groves.
Light: Full sunlight to some shade
Water: Very adaptable. Average moisture will do. Tolerates drought.
Patio tree, specimen plant, mass planting, or container plant. Indoors or outdoors. Selected for use where tropical effect is desired. Medium sized, spineless, evergreen palm. Un-branching trunk. Very large, fan-shaped leaves that form a circular crown. When young, gray-brown trunk is rough and covered with old boots of leaf stalks. These stalks fall away, revealing the trunk as the palm matures. Large clusters of inconspicuous flowers appear among the leaves when plants are mature.
Northernmost New World palm, and one of the hardiest. Durable trunks are sometimes used for wharf pilings, docks and poles.
Large fan-shaped leaves used by Seminole Indians of Florida as thatch for their traditional pavilions, called chickees. The large leaf buds of immature cabbage palms are used in southern cooking to make swamp cabbage and hearts of palm salad, but this practice can be lethal! Avoid eating hearts of palm, as most commercially available canned product is obtained from wild stands of Sabal species in Mexico and Central America.