naturalized Sabal Palmetto

[Sabal_Louisiana]

I have noticed quite a few examples of what appears to be Sabal palmetto (not Sabal minor) growing wild west of its native range, e.g. in SE Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, along the coast of the Fla panhandle E of Panama City. These are usually one or a few and love fence lines of abandoned/vacant lots or wooded areas/ditches along major highways. When young they might be mistaken for the native dwarf palmetto but are unmistakable as they grow up. I will try to post a few pics of some that I have seen. Sometimes, their source can be identified, such as a plant nursery a few hundred yards away.

[Zeeth]

I saw a bunch while I was in New Orleans for a month. S. palmetto is really common there as a street tree so it makes sense that it would naturalize. 

[Manalto]

This is a big surprise. I always thought its native range wrapped around the top of the Gulf Coast as far as Texas, but I checked some more scholarly sources and it's much more limited. There are reports from the early history of Mobile of native sabals growing there. I guess that's about its westernmost limit?

Edited November 1, 2018 by Manalto

[mdsonofthesouth]

From what I heard the native range isnt even to the end of the Florida panhandle, but historical limits could prove otherwise. I have read that early settlers found trunking palms off the coast of Virginia well before the mini ice age that started in the mid to late 1700s. So it's more than possible it could have stretched further across the gulf coast.

[Sabal_Louisiana]

Incidentally, found this pic I took a while back of what appears to be Phoenix canariensis growing in a wooded area in Grand Isle, LA although can't rule out that it was planted there: