Sabal pumos in Coastal Georgia

[Tom GA]

Here are a couple of photos of Sabal pumos I took a few days ago. I planted this palm in a public median in St. Marys, GA, from a 3-gallon container in 2010, the palm itself grown from seed acquired from RPS. This was the palm's first real test in the ground; we dropped to 22F on January 8 and then to 27F on January 9.

As you can see, there is some moderate damage to outer leaves, and at this stage, the palm appears to be hardy to about 20F. I suspect that it will acquire more hardiness as it gets larger. I have personally observed this in S. domingensis in Savannah, which was unfazed this winter by 18F there.

I would be interested to know of others' experiences with Sabal pumos, as it appears to be very rare in cultivation (at least in Georgia!).

The attached photos show the crown detail and a comparison of Sabal palmetto (left) with S. pumos (right).

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I grow pumos, it's one of my favorite sabal. I planted it in our frost hollow, it got down to 26F down there last December and left the pumos untouched.

[Tom GA]

Axel, thanks for sharing. Please post a pic of your palm, because I've seen so few photos of Sabal pumos anywhere. As you mention, anything above 25F seems to be okay for this species.

[Alicehunter2000]

Ken sold this to me as S. urseana, but he was not absolutely sure that was indeed what it is. This picture shows a silvery tint....but the palm in person is not silver or blue....it is green. It makes me wonder if it might be pumos.....it did get burned by my brutal winter this year and only the petioles remained green. Here is an old picture from Ken's farm of the palm...what do you all think?

[Sabal Steve]

Ken sold this to me as S. urseana, but he was not absolutely sure that was indeed what it is. This picture shows a silvery tint....but the palm in person is not silver or blue....it is green. It makes me wonder if it might be pumos.....it did get burned by my brutal winter this year and only the petioles remained green. Here is an old picture from Ken's farm of the palm...what do you all think?

urisana%20with%20better%20light.jpg

I can't positively ID yours, but S. uresana has many different shades of blue, some are even more green than anything else. S. uresana has a very lax leaf structure, and can be quite droopy. It will develop a massive trunk, but is distinguishable from the other large Sabals by the leaf structure.

[SEVA]

Maybe this is the Sabal pumos (right in first photo)? Photos are from December 2020.

[RJ]

12 hours ago, SEVA said:

Maybe this is the Sabal pumos (right in first photo)? Photos are from December 2020.

Nice find . The one on the right, even from a young age looks different then the pumos planted on the left. Appear to be two different types of sabal. 

[SEVA]

11 minutes ago, RJ said:

Nice find . The one on the right, even from a young age looks different then the pumos planted on the left. Appear to be two different types of sabal. 

I believe this might be the same palm from the original post. This was in St. Marys, GA. If this is indeed the same palm, I assume the palm to the left is Sabal palmetto.

[SEVA]

13 hours ago, SEVA said:

Maybe this is the Sabal pumos (right in first photo)? Photos are from December 2020.

Correction: first photo is from July 2022.

[SEVA]

July 2022: looks like it produced inflorescence/infructescence (lower left) in 2021. Developing inflorescence higher up.

 

 

July 2022: These were the only seeds observed on the ground that appeared larger than Sabal palmetto seeds. 
 

 

January 2023: infructescence

[RJ]

10 hours ago, SEVA said:

I believe this might be the same palm from the original post. This was in St. Marys, GA. If this is indeed the same palm, I assume the palm to the left is Sabal palmetto.

I think they’re the same two palms from the original post.  The OP stated he planted two pumos, but they don’t look like the same  sabal  sop to me. 

[SEVA]

1 hour ago, RJ said:

I think they’re the same two palms from the original post.  The OP stated he planted two pumos, but they don’t look like the same  sabal  sop to me. 

Maybe I’m misinterpreting, but from the last paragraph of the original post it sounds like they’re saying the left palm is S. palmetto and the right palm is S. pumos. They definitely appear to be two different species. Quote from original post below:

On 3/13/2014 at 5:43 PM, Tom GA said:

Here are a couple of photos of Sabal pumos I took a few days ago. I planted this palm in a public median in St. Marys, GA, from a 3-gallon container in 2010, the palm itself grown from seed acquired from RPS. This was the palm's first real test in the ground; we dropped to 22F on January 8 and then to 27F on January 9.

 

As you can see, there is some moderate damage to outer leaves, and at this stage, the palm appears to be hardy to about 20F. I suspect that it will acquire more hardiness as it gets larger. I have personally observed this in S. domingensis in Savannah, which was unfazed this winter by 18F there.

 

I would be interested to know of others' experiences with Sabal pumos, as it appears to be very rare in cultivation (at least in Georgia!).

 

The attached photos show the crown detail and a comparison of Sabal palmetto (left) with S. pumos (right).

 

[RJ]

18 minutes ago, SEVA said:

Maybe I’m misinterpreting, but from the last paragraph of the original post it sounds like they’re saying the left palm is S. palmetto and the right palm is S. pumos. They definitely appear to be two different species. Quote from original post below:

 

Nope. You interpreted it correctly. 👍 I misinterpreted the post. Good catch. 
 

I do wonder about the paper ligules. That is a sign of sabal causiarum, and not something I have seen on other species. However the palm itself doesn’t appear nearly big enough to be one. 

[Phoenikakias]

Does not comply with pumos description made by Hodel. Imo the palmen appears larger than one third of lamina and tips of the segments are not droopy.

[Tom GA]

I just stumbled back on this thread after almost a decade! Those palms are still there (my son recently visited) and yes, the one on the left is Sabal palmetto and the one on the right ostensibly is Sabal pumos. A friend grew the palm from seed acquired from Rare Palm Seeds and donated it. I am hoping to visit myself in a few weeks and will try to collect material for a positive ID.

[Bigfish]

On 12/24/2023 at 7:46 AM, Tom GA said:

I just stumbled back on this thread after almost a decade! Those palms are still there (my son recently visited) and yes, the one on the left is Sabal palmetto and the one on the right ostensibly is Sabal pumos. A friend grew the palm from seed acquired from Rare Palm Seeds and donated it. I am hoping to visit myself in a few weeks and will try to collect material for a positive ID.

Hey Tom!  The seeds certainly don’t match up with S. pumos, but they really don’t align with S. causiarum either.  It’s a mystery which may never be resolved, but it’s definitely a beautiful Sabal.  Here’s the infructescence from my visit in November.