Southeastern Palms Volume 20-1

Transcription

1 Southeastern Palms Volume

2 Visit SPS on Facebook Southeastern Palms, formerly titled Rhapidophyllum, is the journal of the Southeastern Palm Society. The Society, founded in 1992, is the southeastern United States (north-of-florida) chapter of the renowned International Palm Society. Members are devoted to growing hardy palms and other subtropical plants. Editor and article submissions Design and layout Production liaison Mailing and missing issues Address changes, membership and payment questions Online membership renewal and bookstore Tom McClendon, St. Marys, Georgia Jeff Stevens, Apison, Tennessee Phil Bennion, Marietta, Georgia Johnny Cochran, Douglasville, Georgia Will Taylor, Athens, Tennessee Southeastern Palms Will Roberds: editors emeritus: Alan Bills: Jeff Stevens: Front Cover: A grouping of Roystonea regia. See Paul Craft s article Those Other Southeastern Native Palms on page 4. Photo: Paul Craft. 2

3 Contents Volume 20-1 August Those Other Southeastern Native Palms Acoelorrhaphe wrightii Coccothrinax argentata Leucothrinax morrisii Pseudophoenix sargentii Roystonea regia Sabal etonia Thrinax radiata by Paul Craft 16 Natural Variation in Sabal palmetto Variegated Sabal palmetto Juvenile Sabal palmetto by Kyle Brown 2012 is the Southeastern Palm Society s 20th Anniversary! Note: This issue has been modified from the print version to correct Figures 4 and 5 on pages 21 and 22. 3

4 Those Other Southeastern Native Palms Article and photos by Paul Craft Loxahatchee, Florida 4

5 Figure 1. An old Acoelorrhaphe wrightii at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California 5

6 W hen the subject arises about palms native to the southeastern United States, those species native to northern Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana are discussed. But what about those species that grow way down in South Florida and the Florida Keys! That area is part of the Southeast as well, even though quite different in climate and soils. There are 11 native palms in this part of the world. Those palms people mostly think of being in the Southeast are Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Sabal palmetto, Sabal minor and Serenoa repens. There is a large separation from these species to the species that can be found in the lower half of Florida: Acoelorrhaphe wrightii Coccothrinax argentata Leucothrinax morrisii Pseudophoenix sargentii Roystonea regia Sabal etonia, and Thrinax radiata. A twelfth species, Sabal miamiensis, is considered extinct and may or may not be in cultivation. It is closely aligned with Sabal etonia and some taxonomists consider it just a southern form of Sabal etonia. Its limited habitat in Dade County was completely destroyed by urbanization. While the far-south natives will not tolerate the seasonal cold of northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, they are well worth using in South Florida and have found more acceptance in recent years with nurseries making them available to the homeowner. With many landscaping requirements calling for a large percentage of native plants, these palms have found their way into many government plantings where people have learned about them and now ask for their use in their own landscapes. Being 6

7 7 Figure 2. Coccothrinax argentata growing in a Florida Keys landscape.

8 8 Figure 3. A hybrid between Coccothrinax argentata and Leucothrinax morrisii at Pine Key, Florida

9 natives, their needs are simple and their resistance to bugs and disease is high. Sabal palmetto and Serenoa repens grow widely in South Florida as well and are heavily used in landscapes. Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Sabal minor are more collector palms, even though they do quite well in gardens to the north. So without further ado, here is a little information about those other Southeastern native palms! Acoelorrhaphe wrightii is also called the paurotis palm or Everglades palm (Figure 1). It is native to far southwest Florida in the Everglades as well as parts of the Caribbean and Central America. Being a water lover, its main requirement in any landscape is adequate regular watering. It has often been used wrongly in public plantings, particularly in roadway medians or on high overpasses with no irrigation. Those plants languish and eventually die in most cases. Of all the South Florida natives, the paurotis palm is the most poorly understood and often passed over because people have seen it planted in situations doing poorly and think it is not an attractive plant they would want to use. Given regular water, it makes an idea specimen palm or screening plant in the landscape. Young suckers can be removed to give a more airy feeling and definition to the main stems, or left on to create a solid wall of foliage. Coccothrinax argentata, also called silver thatch palm, is found in the Florida Keys up into mainland Florida as far north as Palm Beach County (Figures 2 and 3). Its range extends into the Bahamas and depending on whose taxonomic treatment one wants to go by given the various splitting and lumping of species, is found in other parts of the Caribbean as well as the coastal Cayes of Central America. Its attractive dark green leaves with silver backsides make it stand out in a landscape, especially when used in odd numbered groupings of staggered heights. It is the slowest grower of the South Florida natives, often reaching 9

10 10 Figure 4. Leucothrinax morrisii in a Florida Keys landscape

11 maturity at less than three feet tall. That is the main reason it is not used as much as other natives, but is an ideal candidate for small landscapes and tolerates drought and salt extremely well. Leucothrinax morrisii was previously known as Thrinax morrisii, but after DNA analysis was found to be distinctive enough to gain its own unique monotypic genus (Figures 3 and 4). The Key thatch palm s native habitat is the middle to lower Florida Keys and it can be found elsewhere in the Caribbean. It occurs with Coccothrinax argentata on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys where the two palms hybridize at times. With its medium green leaves that are lightly silver underneath, this is another palm that is ideal for small landscapes. It is also quite drought tolerant and tolerates salt wind quite well. Pseudophoenix sargentii is commonly known as the buccaneer or cherry palm (Figure 5). It is another Florida Keys native and occurs elsewhere in the Caribbean and Mexico. A form from Navassa Island, off the coast of Haiti, grows much faster than our native form and has a thinner trunk. Because of its faster growth, it is being grown more than the native form in South Florida nurseries. The native form was nearly wiped out in the Florida Keys due to people digging them back in the early days for their ornamental purposes. It grows slowly, but is a handsome addition to a landscape situation that is well drained. It is also very drought tolerant and prefers alkaline soils. Roystonea regia, or royal palm, was once reported to have grown as far north as Tampa, but has since been known to be native only to southern mainland Florida (Figure 6 and front cover). Its range was undoubtedly reduced by freezes in central Florida ages ago. The royal palm also grows in parts of the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. At one time the Florida form was named Roystonea elata, but that name was lumped with Roystonea regia as the differences between the two species were negligible. It is widely used in South Florida lining streets and shopping mall parking lots. Its best use is as a solitary specimen 11

12 Figure 5. A young Pseudophoenix sargentii in a Florida Keys landscape. Figure 6. A grouping of Roystonea regia. (See also the front cover.) 12

13 Figure 7. A comparison of Sabal etonia on the left and Sabal minor on the right. but when used in groupings reveals its true majesty. Sabal etonia, commonly known as scrub palmetto, is endemic to the areas known as the Central Florida Ridge and the Atlantic Coastal Ridge of Florida (Figure 7). Large numbers can be found in the Ocala National Forest. A trunkless species like Sabal minor, it can be easily distinguished from the latter by its strongly costapalmate leaves that are V-shaped. Sabal minor has only a very small costa making the leaves appear broadly palmate. The inflorescence of Sabal minor extends straight up and out beyond the leaves, while in Sabal etonia it is short and hangs to the ground in amongst the foliage. This is the one palm species that bridges the gap between those from South Florida and the species prevalent in North Florida and beyond. It does well in North Florida and may well be another that has long been treated as a Southeastern native, but is only actually native to central and north-central Florida, so is included here. It would be used in landscapes much the same way as Sabal minor. Thrinax radiata, or thatch palm, is another of the Florida Keys natives that extends up into southern Dade County (Figure 8). It is also common in the Greater Antilles. It is being used more and more in landscapes in South Florida, particularly those that require 13

14 a percentage of native plants. It is an ideal palm for smaller yards much in the same way as Coccothrinax argentata and Leucothrinax morrisii. All look fantastic in odd-numbered groupings or as a solitary specimen with contrasting foliage behind or above them. Of the three species, Thrinax radiata is being grown and used the most. It is no longer just a collector s palm. Thus ends a very brief synopsis of the forgotten palms that are part of the southeastern United States. While most would find it difficult to survive even in Central Florida, they are being seen more and more in South Florida public areas and yards. With their natural resistance to bug, disease and nutrient problems, they are ideal subjects for landscapes both big and small while giving a truly tropical feel wherever planted. Paul Craft is the former president of the International Palm Society. Visit his website at 14

15 15 Figure 8. Thrinax radiata in a Florida Keys landscape.

16 Natural Variation in Sabal palmetto Figure 1. A multipleheaded Sabal palmetto. Kyle Brown North Glen Glen St. Marys, Florida Photos by the author 16

17 T he study of all aspects of Sabal palmetto has been a passion of mine for a very long time. My first encounter with the palmetto or cabbage palm, was in June of 1957 when I came to visit my parents who had moved to Florida from Texas the year before. I got Florida sand in my shoes and could not get it out, resulting in my moving to Florida in June 1958 to continue my college education at the University of Florida. The lush green landscape of Florida and a summer school course in Botany 101 soon convinced me to major in Botany. After earning my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at Gainesville and completing an extended stint in the United States Air Force I resumed graduate studies at North Carolina State University in Raleigh in My doctoral thesis was an ecological life history study of Sabal palmetto. I was intrigued by the fact that the palm had its northern range limits at Cape Fear on Bald Head Island, North Carolina. Part of my study was to observe the palm in as many of its native habitats as possible throughout its natural range. My field work took me from the area around Panama City, Florida, south and eastward around the entire state of Florida and up the Atlantic coast to Bald Head Island and Cape Fear, North Carolina. In my travels I saw many wonderful specimens including the original national champion tree at Highlands Hammock State Park near Sebring, Florida. That tree has since died and I have not learned of a new champ being designated. Plants in Dade County, Florida, on the rocklands were found blooming trunkless and at a very small size. One wonders if they were natural bonsai plants growing as they were in solution potholes in the limestone and thus perhaps older than their size would indicate. There were individuals with very thin trunks, others with very thick trunks, some with a small crowns of leaves and others with very large crowns. Of course, the most interesting trunk variations are the multiple-headed individuals that are occasionally found (Figure 1). 17

18 Unfortunately these plants are prone to damage or destruction in high winds. The magnificent 3-headed specimen that was at Kanapaha Gardens in Gainesville, Florida, was a recent casualty of strong storm winds. The species ecological amplitude is quite wide as well. Plants were observed growing on high well-drained areas of interior Florida, in low and often inundated areas along streams and around lakes, in maritime scrub forest as canopy emergents facing salt spray almost daily, as well as on the edges of salt marshes where root system exposure to brackish water is a daily occurrence. All of these variations suggest a genetically diverse and highly-adaptable species. In the three years of travels doing my doctoral field research I never saw what I consider to be the most fascinating variants of all in Sabal palmetto, the variegated form and what I call, for lack of a better term, the juvenile-leaf form. If one considers incomplete splitting of the leaves into distinct segments as a juvenile characteristic, then the term fits. Variegated Sabal palmetto I first ran across the variegated form of Sabal palmetto in June A former student of mine was superintendent of Riverwood Golf Club on the Myakka River near the village of El Jobean, Florida. This location is near the mouth of the river where it empties into Charlotte Harbor. All of my students at what was then Lake City Community College knew of my deep interest in palms. When my former student called to tell me that he had found variegated cabbage palms on his course, I was, to say the least, very excited. The excitement grew when I learned I was to visit his course to evaluate one of my students on-the-job training for the summer. On my arrival, quick work was made of the evaluation process, and off we went via golf cart to see the first tree. Right there next to the golf cart path was the specimen shown in (Figure 2). 18

19 Figure 2. A variegated Sabal palmetto at the Riverwood Golf Club. This particular variegation in Sabal palmetto is completely different from variegation in most other palms. Typical variegation in palms is linear or striated within the leaf segments as is seen in variegated Rhapis excelsa (Figure 3). In Sabal palmetto this variegation is centered on the whole blade at the costa. It also may be evident in the leaf stalk or petiole. Another distinctive difference of this Sabal variegation type is the absence of the necrotic areas that typically develop in striated palm variegation. Once I had taken pictures we were off again in the golf cart to see another smaller variegated tree in the woods away from the golf course close to the river. I collected some seeds from the previous season but was not successful in germinating any of them. My next contact with variegated Sabal palmetto came by way of palm friend Ted Langley of Lutz, Florida. Ted had received some seed collected from a variegated Sabal palmetto somewhere in the Sarasota and Bradenton area in the early 1990s. These seeds produced several variegated seedlings. 19

20 Figure 3. Linear variegation in Rhapis excelsa. Figure 4 shows a beautiful four-and-a-half year old specimen growing in Ted s yard in Lutz from the first batch of seeds. A few years later when I told Ted I had a variegated needle palm to trade we made a deal, as Ted had successfully germinated more variegated seedlings. We traded one gallon plants so I was now the proud possessor of a small variegated Sabal palmetto. This palm has been in the ground here at North Glen for a number of years now and is close to the point of producing true trunk growth. In the spring of 2000, another former student in Sarasota, Florida contacted me with yet another variegated Sabal palmetto sighting. So in June of that year, while on another on-the-jobtraining run to check on students in the Sarasota area, I scheduled a visit to Misty Creek Country Club. The superintendent had located three palms on the property. The one seen in Figure 5 was a vigorous young tree probably about ten years old. Two 20

21 Figure 4. A variegated Sabal palmetto. younger juveniles were also located in the woods adjacent to the golf course. While still in the Sarasota area I happened to be driving up Honore Avenue north of Fruitville Road when I spotted a mature variegated Sabal palmetto in an undeveloped wooded lot. This individual was located on the southeast side of Honore Avenue at the intersection with 17th Street. That corner has since been developed into an apartment complex and that particular palm may have been lost. I made the palm s existence known to an International Palm Society member in Sarasota, but never heard if it was rescued from destruction. Later that same day while visiting plant explorer and nurseryman friend Dennis Cathcart, I mentioned seeing several variegated Sabal palmetto in the area. Dennis surprised me by saying he knew of one just a couple of blocks north of his nursery 21

22 Figure 5. Striking variegation on a Sabal palmetto. on 36th Street East. We drove up and there it was within the fencerow of a cattle pasture. In 2007 Dennis located another variegated tree near his nursery at the intersection of Tallevast Road and US 301. He convinced the land developer to donate the tree to Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota. I find it quite interesting that all of the variegated palms growing wild so far reported in the southwest part of Florida are between Bradenton and the mouth of the Myakka River at Riverwood Golf Club. It is encouraging that young individuals were found in the Sarasota area indicating that reproduction is occurring naturally. Hopefully there are many more growing in the wilds of southwest Florida. I have recently run across reports on the Internet, mostly posts on IPS Palm Talk, of variegated Sabal palmetto on the east coast of Florida as far north as the Merritt Island vicinity and south to Miami, and one from Orlando. These posts included pictures mostly of the striated type of variegation complete with necrotic 22

23 areas. The few pictures of east coast individuals with the costa centered variegation show no signs of necrosis just like their west coast counterparts. I found only one picture online of a striated Sabal palmetto on the west coast and that was in the Venice area. It seems for now, based on the Internet reports and my own observations, that the west coast primarily has the costa-centered type of variegation whereas the east coast has more of the striated type. The Orlando plant of the striated type was in an urban street planting, so there is no way of knowing where it may have come from. As more palm enthusiasts become aware of the variegated forms I expect there will be more and more sightings around the state in the future. Juvenile Sabal palmetto The juvenile-leaf form of Sabal palmetto is another interesting variant with a somewhat different distribution apparently limited to south-central and southwestern Florida. Most palm enthusiasts first heard of this unique variety in 2005 when an article appeared in Volume 49(1) of Palms, the journal of the International Palm Society. The article was entitled: A New Cultivar of Sabal palmetto, by Robert Riefer and Scott Zona. In this article Riefer states that in 1998 he found three unusual palms growing in southwest Florida in the Naples area. Seeds were collected and then germinated by Riefer, and thus Sabal palmetto Lisa was described and soon entered the nursery trade. The actual location of the original three palms was not mentioned but I became aware of one specimen in Fort Myers thanks to palm friend David Prall. What gets my goat is the fact that I must have passed by this palm dozens of times on trips to the Naples area from 1981 until I retired from the college in The Lisa palm that I missed (Figure 6) was located in plain sight right beside I-75 at the intersection with Luckett Road. I photographed the plant in 2008 some 27 years after my first trip down I-75 to Naples! 23

24 Figure 6. Sabal palmetto Lisa. 24

25 Figure 7. The juvenile-leaf form of Sabal palmetto discovered in the 1970s. Prior to that 2008 visit I had asked David Prall to pick up a 10-gallon Lisa for me. This plant is now growing and looking great by the pond here at North Glen. I have since learned that the Luckett Road palm and another smaller one from across I-75 were moved in 2011 to downtown Fort Myers. These palms were scheduled for destruction to create retention ponds. Thanks to the efforts of Geri Prall, David s wife, the palms were saved and are adjusting to their new home at Bennett-Hart Park in Fort Myers. Now for some really interesting news! Long before Sabal palmetto Lisa was described, another plantsman had discovered a juvenile variety Sabal palmetto in south-central Florida. My good friend and pioneer Florida nurseryman, Ronald Lambert, Sr., shared the story with me while I was visiting him at his Hardee County home at Buckhorn Hammock in On a fishing trip in 25

26 the mid-1970s, Ron came across a colony of an unusual-looking Sabal palmetto along Arbuckle Creek in southeastern Polk County. The plants were in a very remote area that is accessible only by boat. Ron observed numerous individuals including mature trees but found no seed to collect. Several photographs were taken (Figure 7) and some leaf samples collected. Ron returned to the area two more times but never collected any seed, thus missing a chance to introduce the variety at a much earlier time. As of this writing I have not found any reports of the juvenileleaf form of Sabal palmetto being found growing in the wild east or south of the Arbuckle Creek site. Along with its variegated counterpart one wonders how many more colonies or isolated individuals of the juvenile-leaf form of Sabal palmetto might be out there growing somewhere in the southern parts of Florida. Unless some young and energetic palm enthusiasts take up the cause of searching for them, we may never know. Kyle Brown collects palms at North Glen, his garden in Glen St. Marys, Florida. 26

27 Bald Head Island North Carolina The northernmost point in the native range of Sabal palmetto. From the Southeastern Palm Society s visit in October Photo: Jeff Stevens 27

28 The Battery Charleston, South Carolina A photo from a peaceful afternoon walk. Compare these typical palmettos to the varieties in Kyle Brown s article on page 16. Photo: Jeff Stevens 28