Sabal sp. identification

[jfrye01@live.com]

Hello all,  been a while since I’ve posted here! I’ve been mainly lurking the past couple of years, but today I come to y’all with a question…I came across this little Sabal about two years ago, and it has puzzled me since. I don’t know much about it, or who planted it, what I do know is it seems to be planted in pure sand and as far as I know is not cared for, therefore it only receives natural rainfall…Last year, it set fruit, which were much larger than those of Sabal minor. The fruits were nearly the size of Sabal mexicana, but not quite. The fans themselves have a pretty significant fold to them, similar to Sabal palmetto, but smaller. It has shown incredible cold hardiness and surprisingly fast recovery after the February 2021 freeze, which resulted in near complete defoliation. Others have suggested Sabal brazoriensis, however, is it possible for those to set seed before trunking? I’d like to know what everyone here thinks…thanks y’all!

-Jacob in Wichita 

Edited October 28, 2022 by jfrye01@live.com

[idontknowhatnametuse]

Looks like sabal minor

[Afripalm]

Sabal minor I'd say - looks identical to my specimen.

[Bigfish]

Sabal brazoriensis is definitely a possibility, Jacob!  They have pretty large seeds, and definitely flower before forming a trunk (above ground).  The slightly costapalmate leaves and fibers are a characteristic also.  

[Phoenikakias]

I agre

7 hours ago, Bigfish said:

Sabal brazoriensis is definitely a possibility, Jacob!  They have pretty large seeds, and definitely flower before forming a trunk (above ground).  The slightly costapalmate leaves and fibers are a characteristic also.  

I agree, a hybrid. Neven seen fibers on a Sabal minor

[edbrown_III]

I got a Sabal key that I can share with ye --- if interested -=-- Ed

 

[GoatLockerGuns]

Here are some pictures of the fronds from three Sabal minor I have planted on my property in Texas:

Here is a picture of the fronds on a Sabal palmetto on my property that has yet to trunk:

I have "fibers" or "filament" on both my Sabal minor and Sabal palmetto.  There is a clear differentiation, however, in regard to the costapalmate characteristics between the two species in my yard.  I believe Sabal x brazoriensis has a very strong costapalmate appearance at the hastula (where the petiole meets the blade or "frond"), similar to Sabal mexicana and Sabal palmetto.  Here is a good photographic comparison of the costapalmate feature of thee Sabal spp. that Bob Harms posted at University of Texas prior to his passing (http://w3.biosci.utexas.edu/prc/DigFlora/Waller/costapalmate.html).  Also, here is a picture of a Sabal x brazoriensis I took in situ in Brazoria County, Texas this past February (at the same location that Douglas Goldman collected herbarium specimens for his 2011 paper):

I have not been able to zoom in really well to the original pictures you posted (there was a lot of pixelation in the zoom); however, from what I can see, that Sabal sp. does not look to me to have the "strong" costapalmate appearance that Sabal x brazoriensis is reported to have.  The seed size is mysterious.  Sabal mexicana seeds can be huge. Sabal minor seeds are usually bigger than Sabal palmetto, but no where close to Sabal mexicana size.  Sometimes the fruits of many Sabal spp. can be big, but the seeds inside are relatively small in comparison to the fruit once you clean them.  Where you referring to the actual cleaned seed size, or the size of the fruit as it was hanging off the inflorescence?