sabal

Sabal
Sabal palmetto
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Arecales Family: Arecaceae Genus: Sabal Adans.
Species
See text.

Sabal is a genus of New World palms (family Arecaceae), many of the species being known as palmetto. They are fan palms (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets; in some of the species, the leaflets are joined for up to half of their length. A variable portion of the leaf petiole may remain persistent on the trunk for many years after leaf fall leaving the trunk rough and spiky, but in some, the lower trunk loses these leaf bases and becomes smooth. The fruit is a drupe.

Sabal species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Paysandisia archon.

The species are native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of the New World, from the southeast United States south through the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America to Colombia and Venezuela in northern South America.

• Sabal bermudana Bermuda Palmetto - Bermuda
• Sabal causiarum Puerto Rico Hat Palm - Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, Haiti, Dominican Republic
• Sabal domingensis Palma Cana - - Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti
• Sabal etonia Scrub Palmetto - Florida
• Sabal guatemalensis - southern Mexico and Guatemala
• Sabal maritima - Jamaica and Cuba
• Sabal mauritiiformis Palma de Vaca - southern Mexico to northern Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad
• Sabal mexicana Mexican Palmetto - southern Texas, Mexico, El Salvador
• Sabal miamiensis Miami Palmetto - Florida (possibly not distinct from S. etonia, and probably extinct)
• Sabal minor Dwarf Palmetto - southeastern United States (Florida north to North Carolina)
• Sabal palmetto Cabbage Palmetto - Florida north to North Carolina, Cuba, and the Bahamas
• Sabal parviflora - Cuba
• Sabal pumos - Mexico
• Sabal rosei - Mexico
• Sabal uresana Sonoran Palmetto - Mexico
• Sabal yapa Cana Rata - Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula), Belize, Cuba

Sabal serrulata is a synonym of saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, a species that has been used to treat enlargement of the prostate.

Uses

Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants and because several species are relatively cold-hardy, can be grown farther north than most other palms. The central bud of the sabal palm can be eaten; it provides the food hearts of palm. The trees are grown commercially for this product, particularly in Brazil. Hearts of palm are occasionally available fresh and whole, but are usually sold cut in pieces and canned.

References and external links

• Zona, S. 1990. A monograph of Sabal (Arecaceae: Coryphoideae). Aliso 12: 583-666.
• Sabal in Flora of North America

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