Sabal palmetto

Palmettopalme ( Sabal palmetto )

The Palmettopalme ( Sabal palmetto ) is a large growing palm species whose natural range in Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of Georgia, South Carolina and southern North Carolina. It also occurs in western Cuba and with the exception of Grand Bahama, Abaco and South Andros in the Bahamas.

Features

The Palmettopalme is up to 20 meters tall and has a slender stem of solitaire gray color, which can reach a diameter of 35 centimeters. The trunk is often shrouded in dense old leaf bases. Its leaves are fan-shaped and costapalmat, that is, that with them a clearly pronounced midrib a range extends deep into the leaf blade. The leaf segments are deeply notched and connected only to the first third of its length. From her lace hanging down threads. The bushy, densely branched inflorescence is about as long as the leaves, forming hermaphroditic, white to cream flowers from which black round fruits arise, reaching a diameter of 8 to 14 mm.

Habitat

The Palmettopalme has a high salt tolerance and grows mainly on coastal dunes, river banks, in swamps, in marshes, in Cuba and in savanna -like surroundings. It tolerates flooding by brackish water.

Use

Palmettopalmen are often planted in the southeastern United States as an avenue palm trees or garden plants. They are taken mainly from natural stocks, but are not jeopardized because they have a high reproductive potential.

In the past, the Indians of the south-eastern North America used them varied. Their leaves were woven into baskets and hats or ropes and sacks from the leaf fibers were prepared. The fresh fruits were eaten, squeezed their juice. He served for the relief of bronchial disease and was considered an aphrodisiac. A squeezed juice from the roots helped to treat high blood pressure.