I'd like to identify a palm tree which grows on the edge of the beach outside Ft. Pickens, an old fort completed in 1834 and located on the western tip of Santa Rosa Island (Pensacola Beach, Florida). It is within the Gulf Islands National Seashore. I frequently pass it during my summer season sea turtle patrols in the early morning and the attached photo will hopefully help it be identified. It is not unusual for us on the barrier island to have periods of time after a tropical storm when coconuts wash ashore. This tree is said to have grown naturally in this spot, having been there as long as anyone remembers. The tree is not maintained by anyone, so it is in its natural state. Thank you in advance for your help. DJ Zemenick
Ron, Thank you very much for your response. I have 18 sabals in my yard (bought/planted about 10 years ago) and I can identify them pretty well by now. This tree does, in fact, look much like them. I have booted, semi-booted and slick trunks, so I guess my second question would be if a sabal palm was left unattended, would the trunk be 'slick' like the palm in my photo due to the force of tropical storm winds. Also, any idea how long it would take a palm nut/fruit to grow to the size of this tree? Thanks again, Ron. DJ
We don't have these out here so have no intimate knowledge. If fronds etc. same then would seem to be same. There is more than species.
Yeah, it looks like Sabal palmetto. Definitely not coconut. Sabal palmetto in wild areas will retain bootjacks if it is very sheltered by other trees. If there has been a fire or hurricane or felling of trees around it, then the bootjacks may come off easily. They don't persist the way they do on Washingtonia robusta palms, another that looks similar and is relatively common in Florida. Most of the infrequent dune palms on the Panhandle are Sabal palmetto. If you wished to grow one, you would have to get those hard green to black berries, plant in any soil surface, give it a half year or more to sprout. Then the first year is one tiny liriope like blade, one more joining it the next year. I have maybe 16 S. palmetto in my yard, with three being twenty five year old juveniles. They have the massive palmate fans, while the palm trees are about six to eight feet tall and maybe twelve feet wide, leaf tip to leaf tip. I know the panhandle environmentalists do not want more palms imported because they aren't well suited to the piney scrub of the region, but you'd only have to head to the Atlantic coast to find tons of ripped out S. palmetto, everywhere. Also Serenoa repens, or what we call palmetto, with the saw tooth petiole on palmate leaves and prostrate trunk. I probably pulled a couple dozen palm seedlings this morning while waiting for the mail truck.
Thank you so much, thanrose. Your in was very helpful. The 'bootjacks' as you refer to them were what confused me. I wasn't sure if they would strip off under natural circumstances. This palm is very near the western tip of Santa Rosa Island and has been exposed to numerous hurricanes and tropical storms over the years, so you defintely answered that question. I have a photo of sabal berries (still green) on a sabal palm to add to my blog post, now that it has identified. The only remaining question, since you have extensive experience growing them, is how old you might estimate an approximately 18' tall sabal to be. Fort Pickens was completed in 1834 and remained in use through many wars - up 'til 1947, so perhaps this sabal was at least a sprout during WWII. Thank you again for your help. DJ
An 18' tall S. palmetto could be anywhere from maybe twenty to fifty years old or older, depending on environmental details. With a marl base, my eighteen footers are probably more like 40 or 50, because they were at least twelve feet tall when I moved here. I'm neither a master gardener nor all that experienced in palm culture. I've just lived here for over a quarter century. I like Floridata for Florida specific plant info, although it is a relatively slow forum. http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/sab_palm.cfm http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/sabal/palmetto.htm This is another good reference on our most common palm. Have you ever seen the flatbeds of palms going in to new developments? The landscapers cut out a square pad of root fibers around the trunk maybe 4'x4', and 1.5' deep, trim off all the mature leaves, leaving the central spike intact, and then transport on flatbeds, bare root and all. Of course, these are so prolific that nurseries don't care all that much about survival rate other than the annoyance of replacing dead palms. You would also note that the upper trunks are usually very brown and not gray because they would strip off any bootjacks, too. The jacks are removed for appearances only, the mature green growth is removed to encourage immediate root development. While we may have an overabundance of Sabal palmetto and Serenoa repens on this coast, these are slow growing palms and rapid deforestation will deplete the available supply. That second link remarks that 'hearts of palm' now comes from Central American palms, instead of our own here. I have eaten heart of palm from bull-dozed S. Palmetto, but prefer to chew on the white end of a single pulled frond from Serenoa repens to satisfy that infrequent appetite. At least that doesn't kill the palm.
