Sabal Minor at Hammocks Beach State Park (North Carolina)

[MrTropical]

[Ben G.]

Thanks for posting. I always enjoy seeing palms in habitat.

[PaPalmTrees]

They are beautiful palms🌴

Edited March 20 by PaPalmTrees

[VA Jeff]

Sorta small compared to a lot of the NC minors Gary Hollar found over the years.  http://www.garysnursery.com/TheSabalMinor.html  If you wanted to buy larger growing sabal minors from North Carolina you could go to his nursery in New Bern.  I would consider him perhaps the world's expert on sabal minor for many reasons.

Haven't been to Hammocks Beach yet, but I work right close to there.  I love the clear water, nice sand and shells.  Best of all is the lack of development.  Definitely a lot more than 30 years ago, but still pretty quiet.

[SP the Don]

So… traveled through the forests of Jacksonville last winter… am I correct to recall that as being the northernmost range of sabal minor? I’m in Williamsburg Va and hoping to start some here, if possible 😅

[PalmatierMeg]

@SP the Don do you mean Jacksonville, FL? If so, Sabal minor ranges further north than FL, including GA, SC, NC and far SE VA. They are cultivated even further north but may need protection in winter.

[SeanK]

2 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

@SP the Don do you mean Jacksonville, FL? If so, Sabal minor ranges further north than FL, including GA, SC, NC and far SE VA. They are cultivated even further north but may need protection in winter.

Probably Jacksonville, NC. It's about 20 minutes from Wilmington. The northern natural limit for S.palmetto. S.minor extends farther, to the VA border.

[jwf1983]

On 5/6/2024 at 11:07 PM, SP the Don said:

So… traveled through the forests of Jacksonville last winter… am I correct to recall that as being the northernmost range of sabal minor? I’m in Williamsburg Va and hoping to start some here, if possible 😅

I believe I read that Monkey Island in Currituck County, NC is the northernmost extent of Sabal minor’s natural range.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island,_North_Carolina

 

That said, I’m in downtown Washington, D.C., and we have a Sabal minor that is thriving.  I just let it be without any protection whatsoever in winter.  Just started putting out mature growth.  Growing faster than I originally thought it would.   In Williamsburg, VA, this palm will do great.

[vbandz]

On 5/6/2024 at 11:07 PM, SP the Don said:

So… traveled through the forests of Jacksonville last winter… am I correct to recall that as being the northernmost range of sabal minor? I’m in Williamsburg Va and hoping to start some here, if possible 😅

no they are taking over bluffton south carolina (does have a similar climate to jax) and they are also native here it’s called “palmetto state” here lol

[VA Jeff]

On 5/6/2024 at 11:07 PM, SP the Don said:

So… traveled through the forests of Jacksonville last winter… am I correct to recall that as being the northernmost range of sabal minor? I’m in Williamsburg Va and hoping to start some here, if possible 😅

Busch Gardens in WIlliamsburg has sabal minor, trachys and needle palms, if I recall.  I planted a needle palm in an exposed spot at my sister's old house an hour west of DC back in the early 2000s.  Supposedly it's still there.

[Jack Lord]

I am just outide DC and have some pretty big Sabal Minors as well as Needles.

[VA Jeff]

Monkey Island, NC is the northernmost guaranteed locale for sabal minor.  Bald Head Island, NC (or the nearby environs) is the northernmost guaranteed locale for sabal palmetto.  Yes, they grow further north, but a particular winter in the early 1800's knocked them back to those environs.  

I am working in Jacksonville, NC for another month.  There are very few sabal minors.  Almost all the palms are planted or naturalized palmettoes.  Hyde County, NC further northeast has some tall minors that have made it into the trade.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

If you mean "very few to be seen"  S. minors in J-ville NC then you are correct but they are more abundant near the salt and fresh water environs and even found deep into the forests along streams and swamps. A few can even be found in upland areas (but near larger lowland populations) where seeds are spread to those uplands by animals.  Admittedly though unless you are looking hard you may not even be able to see any at all as they are usually in dense areas but then are found in mostly large to smaller groups.  People here do not pay them much attention though favoring the bigger S. palmetto that they can buy at nurseries and have planted. Gary Hollar of Gary's Nursery in New Bern N.C. should be credited for planting out many eastern N.C. minors, that you see in landscapes, as he has pushed and educated people about them for many years.  

[RFun]

5 hours ago, Jeff zone 8 N.C. said:

If you mean "very few to be seen"  S. minors in J-ville NC then you are correct but they are more abundant near the salt and fresh water environs and even found deep into the forests along streams and swamps. A few can even be found in upland areas (but near larger lowland populations) where seeds are spread to those uplands by animals.  Admittedly though unless you are looking hard you may not even be able to see any at all as they are usually in dense areas but then are found in mostly large to smaller groups.  People here do not pay them much attention though favoring the bigger S. palmetto that they can buy at nurseries and have planted. Gary Hollar of Gary's Nursery in New Bern N.C. should be credited for planting out many eastern N.C. minors, that you see in landscapes, as he has pushed and educated people about them for many years.  

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  You wouldn't normally notice them due to the dense vegetation.