Sabal seedlings

[Sabal King]

Couple of large Sabal seedlings available.  
 

sabal birmingham ($60 shipped).

Sabal defuniak springs ($80 shipped).  Almost 3’ tall and palmate.

Sabal blackburniana ($80 shipped)

we have a ton more available around these size including 

Sabal tamulipas 

Sabal palmetto

Sabal causiarum

Sabal brazoriensis

Sabal palmetto x causiarum

sabal louisiana

sabal minor

so many more..  pictures available just ping me.

[Keys6505]

Slightly OT... You know of anyone playing with Mauritiiformis hybrids to get the Mauritiiformis look with a little more hardiness?

[Sabal King]

16 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

Slightly OT... You know of anyone playing with Mauritiiformis hybrids to get the Mauritiiformis look with a little more hardiness?

Nope.  Hybridizing Sabals is just not that easy so you don’t have this happening.

[Gallop]

21 hours ago, Sabal King said:

Nope.  Hybridizing Sabals is just not that easy so you don’t have this happening.

Are there many people trying to hybridize Sabals? I’ve personally never heard of anyone even trying. That is not to say people haven’t. I’ve been making hybrids of palms, cycads, ceratozamia for a few years and I can tell you from experience it’s not that easy. With the exception of a few palm hybrids, seed count is typically low. On cycad and ceratozamia hybrids seed count can be high, however the number of seed that germinate can be low to none. I’ve had to try certain hybrids a few times before I ever got one viable seed. I believe sabal would be no different. If someone put alot of time in them, I’m sure we’d see a handful of Sabal hybrids? I could be wrong -just my thoughts. 

 

[Sabal King]

8 minutes ago, Gallop said:

Are there many people trying to hybridize Sabals? I’ve personally never heard of anyone even trying. That is not to say people haven’t. I’ve been making hybrids of palms, cycads, ceratozamia for a few years and I can tell you from experience it’s not that easy. With the exception of a few palm hybrids, seed count is typically low. On cycad and ceratozamia hybrids seed count can be high, however the number of seed that germinate can be low to none. I’ve had to try certain hybrids a few times before I ever got one viable seed. I believe sabal would be no different. If someone put alot of time in them, I’m sure we’d see a handful of Sabal hybrids? I could be wrong -just my thoughts. 

 

Just not something that happens, and it's why the only real hybrid we have to date, is the sabal brazoriensis.  Everything else out there is merely speculation.

[Bigfish]

On 11/11/2024 at 11:32 AM, Gallop said:

Are there many people trying to hybridize Sabals? I’ve personally never heard of anyone even trying. That is not to say people haven’t. I’ve been making hybrids of palms, cycads, ceratozamia for a few years and I can tell you from experience it’s not that easy. With the exception of a few palm hybrids, seed count is typically low. On cycad and ceratozamia hybrids seed count can be high, however the number of seed that germinate can be low to none. I’ve had to try certain hybrids a few times before I ever got one viable seed. I believe sabal would be no different. If someone put alot of time in them, I’m sure we’d see a handful of Sabal hybrids? I could be wrong -just my thoughts. 

 

Wellllll…I’m glad you asked!  LOL.  Sabal flowers are small and hermaphroditic, so they are difficult to work with.  They typically are only receptive for a day or two also.  You have get to the flowers in the early morning before pollen dehiscence.  The good news is that it’s pretty easy to tell if the pollen has released yet, and it’s not difficult to remove the anthers.  But it’s TEDIOUS!!!  Not all of the flowers open on the same day either.  So you have to repeat the process multiple consecutive days.  Anyway…without going too far down the rabbit hole, I did cross Sabal minor x S. miamiensis in 2023.  I got about 30-40 seeds, and most of them sprouted this year.  It’ll be many years before I know if they are actually good hybrids though.  

[Gallop]

3 hours ago, Bigfish said:

Wellllll…I’m glad you asked!  LOL.  Sabal flowers are small and hermaphroditic, so they are difficult to work with.  They typically are only receptive for a day or two also.  You have get to the flowers in the early morning before pollen dehiscence.  The good news is that it’s pretty easy to tell if the pollen has released yet, and it’s not difficult to remove the anthers.  But it’s TEDIOUS!!!  Not all of the flowers open on the same day either.  So you have to repeat the process multiple consecutive days.  Anyway…without going too far down the rabbit hole, I did cross Sabal minor x S. miamiensis in 2023.  I got about 30-40 seeds, and most of them sprouted this year.  It’ll be many years before I know if they are actually good hybrids though.  

Frank, thank you for the wealth of information. It’s greatly appreciated!