All About Saw Palmetto
By Sid Freund
Florida Master Naturalist
Saw Palmetto is a native plant, very sturdy and fire retardant. You can see Saw Palmetto growing alongside the berm as you walk south just before the Commons parking lot on the left side.
This low, clumping, bushy palm has large, fan-shaped leaves and multiple trunks that creep along the ground, creating a dense ground cover. The horizontal trunk underground can be 12-15 feet long. The frond is palmate, where the blade of a leaf is divided into leaflets radiating from a single point. Three foot-long flower stalks appear in spring, covered with small, yellow-white, fragrant flowers, the source of a commercial high-grade honey. The flowers are followed by small, yellow berries that turn black, ripening August through October. butdon’t pick the berries unless you have a native plant harvesting permit. The berries are an important food source for many mammals such as black bear, white-tailed deer, raccoons, and birds, as well as being promoted medicinally for prostate health. Saw Palmetto supplements may be found in health food stores today. July 2018 the State of Florida declared that widespread gathering of these berries was depleting a wildlife food source and threatening the stability of some ecosystems. Saw Palmetto has been added to the state’s list of commercially exploited plants.
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By Sid Freund
Florida Master Naturalist
Saw Palmetto is a native plant, very sturdy and fire retardant. You can see Saw Palmetto growing alongside the berm as you walk south just before the Commons parking lot on the left side.
This low, clumping, bushy palm has large, fan-shaped leaves and multiple trunks that creep along the ground, creating a dense ground cover. The horizontal trunk underground can be 12-15 feet long. The frond is palmate, where the blade of a leaf is divided into leaflets radiating from a single point. Three foot-long flower stalks appear in spring, covered with small, yellow-white, fragrant flowers, the source of a commercial high-grade honey. The flowers are followed by small, yellow berries that turn black, ripening August through October. butdon’t pick the berries unless you have a native plant harvesting permit. The berries are an important food source for many mammals such as black bear, white-tailed deer, raccoons, and birds, as well as being promoted medicinally for prostate health. Saw Palmetto supplements may be found in health food stores today. July 2018 the State of Florida declared that widespread gathering of these berries was depleting a wildlife food source and threatening the stability of some ecosystems. Saw Palmetto has been added to the state’s list of commercially exploited plants.
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