Comparing Sabal mexicana and Sabal palmetto side by side

[TonyDFW]

Sabal Palms in North Texas. 
The palms to the left are Sabal mexicana. Native to the Rio Grande valley and recent arrivals from South Texas. To the right are Sabal palmetto with dramatically shorter petioles. They were delivered from Florida, where they are native. . 

Edited March 6, 2022 by TonyDFW

[Allen]

Interesting.  The cut on the fronds on the mexicana is unique.  You think they will be ok with the smaller trunks?  Hard to tell how big they are in pic.  Looks like 4-5'??

Edited March 6, 2022 by Allen

[GoatLockerGuns]

31 minutes ago, Allen said:

The cut on the fronds on the mexicana is unique.

I am no expert, but I believe that is generally called the "hurricane cut."  I think it is pretty common with Sabal sps. transplants.  As I understand it, that "cut" helps the Sabal sps. palms grow after transplant, by having the palm focus on growing only the few healthy fronds at the top for the first year or so after transplant.  I am assuming they cut the tips of the fronds because they were browning perhaps?  Maybe they did not want the palm to focus on any dead tissue after transplant?  I have seen it done before on other Sabal sps.

[GoatLockerGuns]

46 minutes ago, TonyDFW said:

To the right are Sabal palmetto with dramatically shorter petioles.

So, would you say that "dramatically long petioles" are a tell-tale visual indicator of Sabal mexicana (i.e., this is something you would never see on Sabal palmetto)? Like, if I were driving down I-35 and I saw a Sabal sps. on the side of the road, I could look at the petioles and say, "dang, look at those long petioles; must be a Sabal mexicana."

[Collectorpalms]

13 hours ago, TonyDFW said:

Sabal Palms in North Texas. 
The palms to the left are Sabal mexicana. Native to the Rio Grande valley and recent arrivals from South Texas. To the right are Sabal palmetto with dramatically shorter petioles. They were delivered from Florida, where they are native. . 

Where are they and how much!

[TonyDFW]

North Texas palms in McKinney TX.... expensive.. You can get better value at other palm suppliers

 

[GregDFW]

5 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Where are they and how much!

I bought a 7 foot trunk Florida foot sabal last May for $950 plus tax.  Used their landscaper for the delivery and install to get a 1 year warranty on the tree, which ultimately had to be replaced in August.  So had to pay a second install fee, but at least covered the tree.  The new one is doing great though.  I think they otherwise warranty for 3 months without their installer doing the planting.

I've bought a few TX sabal and a pindo in the past several years as well and were usually around $200 per foot of clear trunk.  Seemed to have gotten more expensive post-freeze though and they already aren't cheap.

There's East Texas Palms outside of Canton that at had the Floria Sabals at better prices, but haven't purchased from yet.  May call this week about another pindo and can see what other stuff is selling for.

There's quite a few cheaper options on facebook marketplace and sometimes craigslist but my one experience there was a very good price on a TX Sabal that didn't plant deep enough and then wouldn't come back to redo, so had to spend money for someone else to pull it out and do it right.

 

[Collectorpalms]

47 minutes ago, GregDFW said:

I bought a 7 foot trunk Florida foot sabal last May for $950 plus tax.  Used their landscaper for the delivery and install to get a 1 year warranty on the tree, which ultimately had to be replaced in August.  So had to pay a second install fee, but at least covered the tree.  The new one is doing great though.  I think they otherwise warranty for 3 months without their installer doing the planting.

I've bought a few TX sabal and a pindo in the past several years as well and were usually around $200 per foot of clear trunk.  Seemed to have gotten more expensive post-freeze though and they already aren't cheap.

There's East Texas Palms outside of Canton that at had the Floria Sabals at better prices, but haven't purchased from yet.  May call this week about another pindo and can see what other stuff is selling for.

There's quite a few cheaper options on facebook marketplace and sometimes craigslist but my one experience there was a very good price on a TX Sabal that didn't plant deep enough and then wouldn't come back to redo, so had to spend money for someone else to pull it out and do it right.

 

A reputable company that has a 1 year warranty is as important as the initial cost for anything bareroot and costly to remove if it dies.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

Wow great picture Tony! I never realized the S. mex petioles were that long. Need to get some seed and grow some now. I also notice the mex are darker green. Wonder if that is because they are shorter and grown under canopy of larger ones? You can also see the mex puts on height much slower as the leaf bases are much more congested. Wonder if they put on leaves at a faster rate than palmetto.

[RJ]

No one else has mentioned this so I’ll throw it out there. 
 

• we don’t know the growing conditions of these palms more shade lends to longer petioles.
• younger sabal’s tend to have longer petioles Then older ones by a large margin. I’m in fl  right now and can show you plenty of young sabals with equally long petioles.

that being said. Yes S.mex is a larger more robust sabal. However, I think we need to look at all factors that can attribute to the discrepancies. 

[Collectorpalms]

2 hours ago, RJ said:

No one else has mentioned this so I’ll throw it out there. 
 

• we don’t know the growing conditions of these palms more shade lends to longer petioles.
• younger sabal’s tend to have longer petioles Then older ones by a large margin. I’m in fl  right now and can show you plenty of young sabals with equally long petioles.

that being said. Yes S.mex is a larger more robust sabal. However, I think we need to look at all factors that can attribute to the discrepancies. 

Honestly, that IS how they look. They ones grown in the Valley are grown in agricultural rows. That is how they have been doing for last couple decades and always seem to have fronds long and cut like that. They started selling them with only 4-6Ft of clear trunk which seemed risky to me. Now you can find really large ones. 

Not sure about Florida, do they even grown them in Agriculture rows? Or are they just reclaimed from land intended for development?

Edited March 7, 2022 by Collectorpalms

[Sabal King]

Honestly if I had to choose, Texas Sabal hands down every single time.  The thick prehistoric looking trunk, with massive petioles and fronds look incredible... I was down in San Antonio last week and they were all over.. Massive, impressive palms that sailed through the winter event.. I don't get why more people don't plant Sabals.. ALL of them... in massive quantities...

[RJ]

3 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Honestly, that IS how they look. They ones grown in the Valley are grown in agricultural rows. That is how they have been doing for last couple decades and always seem to have fronds long and cut like that. They started selling them with only 4-6Ft of clear trunk which seemed risky to me. Now you can find really large ones. 

Not sure about Florida, do they even grown them in Agriculture rows? Or are they just reclaimed from land intended for development?

I think they’re just reclaimed. I could be wrong though, but last I looked if you ordered a 18 wheeler of them from Florida they’re less then $80 a piece , hard to imagine cultivating them could be profitable at that price . 
 

these are all s. palmetto most offspring from the nearby parent tree

Edited March 7, 2022 by RJ

[DreaminAboutPalms]

I’ve spent the past few weeks in north Dallas suburbs and I have noticed very few palmettos left. Seems most died and were removed while Mexicanas survived and continue to thrive. I saw a restaurant today with 15 palmettos and all were dead some falling over. Pretty much just see them at in & out now in these parts

Edited March 8, 2022 by DreaminAboutPalms

[DreaminAboutPalms]

These are all the volunteers popping up all within a 100sq ft. flower bed in parking lot at my apartment in Plano, across the street from two fruiting Mexicanas. People need to start tossing seeds everywhere especially by creeks around here, they can survive the winters while florida palmettos can’t and seem to naturalize quite easily here