Serenoa Repens ‘Sericea’, ‘Cinerea’, or 'Glauca’?

[Dwarf Fan]

Are these all just different names for what would commonly be known as a  “Silver” Saw Palmetto or is each a different variation/species of Silver Serenoa Repens?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[Looking Glass]

16 minutes ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Are these all just different names for what would commonly be known as a  “Silver” Saw Palmetto or is each a different variation/species of Silver Serenoa Repens?

I think these can be different.  ….Or at least may mean different things to different people in the nursery trade based on the varying specimens you see out there.  

I know from experience to be careful if you’re getting seeds or ordering online.   I ordered a bunch of “silver” seeds by one of those names.   They took forever to come up, and they are all coming up green so far.  

 

The really silver/white form is actually one of my favorite little palms.   Expensive and kind of hard to come by here, where they grow like crazy along the highways and in certain areas.  I stumbled on this little guy a few months back. 

I kind of think of these as green, blue and white.   Different strains or populations vary a lot in color and form.   The whitest ones look amazing, whatever people call them.  

[SeanK]

The 3 different strains can all be grown in the Corpus area, as well as can Acoelorraphe wrightii.  You might try Zamia integrifolia, too. Most of these demand sandy souls.

[Dwarf Fan]

46 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

I think these can be different.  ….Or at least may mean different things to different people in the nursery trade based on the varying specimens you see out there.  

I know from experience to be careful if you’re getting seeds or ordering online.   I ordered a bunch of “silver” seeds by one of those names.   They took forever to come up, and they are all coming up green so far.  

 

The really silver/white form is actually one of my favorite little palms.   Expensive and kind of hard to come by here, where they grow like crazy along the highways and in certain areas.  I stumbled on this little guy a few months back. 

I kind of think of these as green, blue and white.   Different strains or populations vary a lot in color and form.   The whitest ones look amazing, whatever people call them.  

Yes, I have seen the green, blue and white color variations expressed for sure.

The “Silver” confuses me because I have seen people have a “Blue Silver” and a “White” Silver. 

By the way, that’s the nicest looking “Silver-White” color S.Repens I’ve ever seen, to me it actually looks like pure “Silver” not green or blue! You scored a really perfect and beautiful color variation! I don’t know what you paid but definitely worth a little extra coin, nice score! 🤙

 I originally didn’t know about the color variations and thought they were all “Green” so I grabbed one at a nursery and it just just said “Saw Palmetto” and I brought it home assuming it was “Green” only to find out it looked more “Blue” compared to every other Palm in my yard. It is close to green and could almost be considered a “Blue-Green” as it is not bright Blue or Silver. It just stuck out like a sore thumb though, so I ordered a true Serenoa Repens “Green” and then the side by side color difference was obvious.

My ”Blue” or “Blue-Green” on left and my true “Green” on right. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[Dwarf Fan]

28 minutes ago, SeanK said:

The 3 different strains can all be grown in the Corpus area, as well as can Acoelorraphe wrightii.  You might try Zamia integrifolia, too. Most of these demand sandy souls.

This is a great recommendation, I love the look of that Palm, and I am still searching for more “tropical” looking cold hardy Palms I can’t believe I almost missed that one, added to my list thanks Sean! 👍

Edited July 29, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[Dwarf Fan]

Also, anyone have recommendations on how damp does Serenoa Repens like to stay? Does it like it as moist as Sabal Minor or a not as wet more on the moist side of dry?

[Looking Glass]

30 minutes ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Yes, I have seen the green, blue and white color variations expressed for sure.

The “Silver” confuses me because I have seen people have a “Blue Silver” and a “White” Silver. 

By the way, that’s the nicest looking “Silver-White” color S.Repens I’ve ever seen, to me it actually looks like pure “Silver” not green or blue! You scored a really perfect and beautiful color variation! I don’t know what you paid but definitely worth a little extra coin, nice score! 🤙

 I originally didn’t know about the color variations and thought they were all “Green” so I grabbed one at a nursery and it just just said “Saw Palmetto” and I brought it home assuming it was “Green” only to find out it looked more “Blue” compared to every other Palm in my yard. It is close to green and could almost be considered a “Blue-Green” as it is not bright Blue or Silver. It just stuck out like a sore thumb though, so I ordered a true Serenoa Repens “Green” and then the side by side color difference was obvious.

My ”Blue” or “Blue-Green” on left and my true “Green” on right. 

Serenoa repens doesn’t get enough respect in my opinion.  They are durable and beautiful palms, and great understory and border plants for sunny spots.  Over time, some get pretty tall (like 15 feet), but that takes the right genetics, conditions, and forever.   

Yours look great.   You can see the blue vs green there.   Like all waxy palms, there is a lot of variation in specimens.  
 

 

[Looking Glass]

13 minutes ago, Dwarf Fan said:

Also, anyone have recommendations on how damp does Serenoa Repens like to stay? Does it like it as moist as Sabal Minor or a not as wet more on the moist side of dry?

These are drought tolerant palms.  Around here, you’ll see them naturally growing in open harsh areas that really dry out and are prone to fires.  The green ones will grow in shady understory areas that are wetter, but I think the risk with these is rotting them out.  You can probably mimic wet-dry season watering depending on your soil.   When it’s hot, water away.  When it’s cool, let them really dry out.   

[Dwarf Fan]

9 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

Serenoa repens doesn’t get enough respect in my opinion.  They are durable and beautiful palms, and great understory and border plants for sunny spots.  Over time, some get pretty tall (like 15 feet), but that takes the right genetics, conditions, and forever.   

Yours look great.   You can see the blue vs green there.   Like all waxy palms, there is a lot of variation in specimens.  
 

 

100 % agree about it being under appreciated. I think it looks great as an understory and it also looks killer as a companion planting along side with some Sabal Minors worked in as well, and I am using it where I want a low profile Palm that won’t take off like a rocket and adds more “green fronds” to my yard and fills in gaps between my trunking species. Great versatility!

[Dwarf Fan]

1 minute ago, Looking Glass said:

These are drought tolerant palms.  Around here, you’ll see them naturally growing in open harsh areas that really dry out and are prone to fires.  The green ones will grow in shady understory areas that are wetter, but I think the risk with these is rotting them out.  You can probably mimic wet-dry season watering depending on your soil.   When it’s hot, water away.  When it’s cool, let them really dry out.   

Thanks for that insight.

[SeanK]

On 7/29/2023 at 7:06 PM, Dwarf Fan said:

Also, anyone have recommendations on how damp does Serenoa Repens like to stay? Does it like it as moist as Sabal Minor or a not as wet more on the moist side of dry?

Absolutely don't like heavy clay and don't want wet feet in winter.

[Dwarf Fan]

29 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Absolutely don't like heavy clay and don't want wet feet in winter.

No clay here, but I will watch the heavy hand when winter watering season comes around. 👍

Edited August 1, 2023 by Dwarf Fan

[Hillizard]

I bought my silver saw palmetto as a "Serenoa repens cinerea."  It's not as silver as some I've seen, probably because it's shaded part of the day by an overhead Nannorrhops ritchiana! I've been growing it in my palm berm for over five years now. 

[SeanK]

Generally speaking, palms will show more wax in drier climates.