Is This a Sabal Minor?

[JDH23]

Greetings everyone,

Firstly, happy Thanksgiving to everyone who may be reading this in the United States!

I just got back from a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida and I came home with some Sabal seeds that I collected. Initially, I was only able to collect some Palmetto seeds as they were the only type of Sabal that I noticed growing in PCB and the surrounding cities (in fact, according to a graphic from the University of South Florida the county PCB resides in - Bay County - is the only county in Northwest Florida that wild Sabal Minor haven’t been vouchered for. Pretty wild if you ask me, though there are saw palmetto aplenty just about everywhere down there!) Anyways, I also took a day trip to up to the Econfina Creek Water Management Area to visit some of the crystal clear springs there. I was at one of the springs, Williford Spring, and next to the walkway I discovered potentially what I thought could be a Sabal Minor that was producing seeds (in fact, it looked as if there were 2 flower stalks but someone had already chopped one down.) Foolishly, I didn’t take any photos of the specimen but I was able to find a YouTube Video from about a year ago that included the Sabal and I took a screenshot of it. 

What makes me think this might be a Sabal Minor is that comparative to the numerous Palmettos in the area, this was the smallest of the bunch that was producing seeds (the fronds were no higher than my waist). Some palmettos had decent sized trunks on them and had no flower stalks, whereas this specimen had no visible trunk and had a flower stalk coming straight out of the below ground growing point. With the information I have, hopefully someone can confirm whether or not this specimen is a Sabal Minor. They are one of the only palms I can grow in my area, and as much fun as it would be to germinate some Palmetto seeds, they don’t stand a chance in surviving our Midwest winters. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by JDH23

[JDH23]

I just created a small comparison chart pertaining to the seeds I collected from the Palmettos and unknown Sabal. The fruit on the left is the visibly largest and the fruit on the right is visibly smallest (to my eyes at least), with seeds below them being from similar sized fruit. The penny is included for size reference. 
 

[Jimbean]

3 hours ago, JDH23 said:

Greetings everyone,

Firstly, happy Thanksgiving to everyone who may be reading this in the United States!

I just got back from a trip to Panama City Beach, Florida and I came home with some Sabal seeds that I collected. Initially, I was only able to collect some Palmetto seeds as they were the only type of Sabal that I noticed growing in PCB and the surrounding cities (in fact, according to a graphic from the University of South Florida the county PCB resides in - Bay County - is the only county in Northwest Florida that wild Sabal Minor haven’t been vouchered for. Pretty wild if you ask me, though there are saw palmetto aplenty just about everywhere down there!) Anyways, I also took a day trip to up to the Econfina Creek Water Management Area to visit some of the crystal clear springs there. I was at one of the springs, Williford Spring, and next to the walkway I discovered potentially what I thought could be a Sabal Minor that was producing seeds (in fact, it looked as if there were 2 flower stalks but someone had already chopped one down.) Foolishly, I didn’t take any photos of the specimen but I was able to find a YouTube Video from about a year ago that included the Sabal and I took a screenshot of it. 

What makes me think this might be a Sabal Minor is that comparative to the numerous Palmettos in the area, this was the smallest of the bunch that was producing seeds (the fronds were no higher than my waist). Some palmettos had decent sized trunks on them and had no flower stalks, whereas this specimen had no visible trunk and had a flower stalk coming straight out of the below ground growing point. With the information I have, hopefully someone can confirm whether or not this specimen is a Sabal Minor. They are one of the only palms I can grow in my area, and as much fun as it would be to germinate some Palmetto seeds, they don’t stand a chance in surviving our Midwest winters. 

That palm closest to you in that picture is a Sabal minor. 

It's not out of the question to find species grow in wild in places where they are not vouched.