a tall and ancient clump of Serenoa repens, Saw Palmetto

[Eric in Orlando]

On Sunday my wife and I went on a long hike into the Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park. It is on the east side of the Wekiva River about 30 miles northwest of Orlando. Most of the preserve is drier upland forest. The soil is very porous white sand. We came across this clump of Serenoa repens, Saw Palmetto, in a section of the forest. It was the only arborescent Saw Palmetto we came across. Lots of other specimens but they weren't over 4-5 feet tall and they had creeping trunks. This one had the tallest trunk about 12ft tall. It must be a couple hundred years old or older. It wasn't a thick suckering clump, it has a very nice open habit. This palm would make an awesome landscape specimen, I want it in my yard.

[dmc]

Nice specimen Eric thanks for sharing

[NorthFlpalmguy]

Wow! That is definitely the tallest I've heard of.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Hey Eric,

That's the tallest saw palm I have ever seen. I love the saw palm and the paurotis, and wish they were both used in landscaping here in Corpus Christi. They seem to do quite well here, but most of the nurseries just don't carry either.

John

[Josh-O]

looks like a super old specimen.. How old do you think it is??

[Eric in Orlando]

I had heard awhile back that research was done on the growth rates of wild saw palmetto and that these arborescent forms could be up to several hundred years old.

[Eric in Orlando]

The biggest I have ever seen was when I hiked in Split Oak Forest trail about 20 miles south of Orlando. These were great specimens, there are lots of tall trunked saw palmetto clumps there.

[Eric in Orlando]