Sabal minor

Sabal minor, the Dwarf Palmetto, is one of the world's hardiest palms and can withstand sub-zero temperatures down to a mind-numbing -18C. It has a wide range throughout the southeastern states of the USA and is found in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and North Carolina. The most northerly natural occurance of it in North Carolina is on Monkey Island in the Currituck Sound while the landlocked Oklahoma populations from McCurtain County are reputed to be the hardiest. An isolated Mexican population found growing in the Santa Rosa Canyon, west of Linares, in Nuevo Leon is thought to have genetic material from Sabal mexicana. With such a wide range it is not surprising Sabal minor has both a wide morphological diversity and a varied tolerance of cold.

Sabal minor is a slow growing palm with upright costapalmate fronds on long petioles. The trunk tends to grow underground so that the leaves appear to arise directly from the ground. Its underground habit, with the growing point - the apical meristem - well buried, gives Sabal minor a huge advantage in surviving extreme sub-zero temperatures. This botanical phenomena is known as positive geotropic growth, the apical meristem descending downwards as it establishes itself, with the spear leaf arising from the centre of the underground trunk surrounded by a circle of leaf petioles from previous growth which give it further protection. Once established, this underground growth may be reversed and older specimens may form a shortish trunk.

Sabal minor is a moisture-loving palm and commonly grows in swampy areas or habitats where the water table is close to the surface. Keeping it moist and feeding it a nitrogen-rich formula during the summer will increase its growth rate.