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Wild Sabal Minor in Virginia


Avi

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Nice find.  Welcome to PalmTalk as well!

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Wow! I'm going to have to check that area out next time I'm down there. I looked around at it on Google Maps and it looks like a place that you would find Sabal minor, and if it was down in the Carolinas I bet you would see them everywhere. That is a nice find! 

PalmTreeDude

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Nice find!

When I get a chance, I’d like to check out this lake. Hopefully I can get some leaf samples so we can have solid evidence of Sabal minor (native or naturalized) in Virginia.

I’d like to think that this palm is native, but it very well could be an escape from cultivation since Sabal minors are common landscaping plants there.

Also, welcome to PalmTalk! 

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

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Great if it is actually native.  Who knows.  No way to prove it.  The closest you could get would be to compare it against monkey island genetics.  Gary Hollar has probably trucked hundreds of sabal minors to VA Beach over the years. 

 

The Nature Conservancy refused to let me plant sabal minor seeds on their land in Virginia years ago, saying they weren't native.  But I wouldn't be surprised if they planted "native" Japanese maples.

  • Like 3

God bless America...

and everywhere else too.

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7 hours ago, VA Jeff said:

Great if it is actually native.  Who knows.  No way to prove it.  The closest you could get would be to compare it against monkey island genetics.  Gary Hollar has probably trucked hundreds of sabal minors to VA Beach over the years. 

 

The Nature Conservancy refused to let me plant sabal minor seeds on their land in Virginia years ago, saying they weren't native.  But I wouldn't be surprised if they planted "native" Japanese maples.

Virginia is funny.  They’ll mass plant crepe myrtles from who knows where but fuss when someone offers to plant a native palm with native populations probably less than 100 miles away. 

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Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

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  • 1 year later...

I visited this area last fall and spotted this on the edge of the water. Saw some Spanish moss too, but not nearly as much as First Landing or even Lake Drummond.

202893F0-85B1-4C08-90ED-32C4AC3BABFA.jpeg

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USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

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Wow. I expected them to be further south in the VA beach area, that's a good find. It's more likely to be naturalized since it's not that far south into Virginia Beach, and it's so young. 

Nothing to say here. 

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4 hours ago, EastCanadaTropicals said:

Wow. I expected them to be further south in the VA beach area, that's a good find. It's more likely to be naturalized since it's not that far south into Virginia Beach, and it's so young. 

While it’s possible that it’s naturalized from a cultivated specimen, I don’t think juvenile status is an indicator of wild seed-sourced or cultivated seed-sourced. From a quick search, the Monkey Island (NC) population is only about 10 miles from the Virginia line and a little over 20 miles from this location. I suppose it’s possible a seed could have been carried here from miles away, but I’m thinking it came from the palm in the link below. I guess I missed it in person. Of course, I don’t know if that larger palm was planted or came up volunteer. I just know personally, I wouldn’t have planted it under a fence (or installed a fence over top of it).

Google Earth Link

https://earth.app.goo.gl/WhrWJ7

 

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USDA Hardiness Zone 7b/8a

AHS Heat Zone 7

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1 hour ago, SEVA said:

While it’s possible that it’s naturalized from a cultivated specimen, I don’t think juvenile status is an indicator of wild seed-sourced or cultivated seed-sourced. From a quick search, the Monkey Island (NC) population is only about 10 miles from the Virginia line and a little over 20 miles from this location. I suppose it’s possible a seed could have been carried here from miles away, but I’m thinking it came from the palm in the link below. I guess I missed it in person. Of course, I don’t know if that larger palm was planted or came up volunteer. I just know personally, I wouldn’t have planted it under a fence (or installed a fence over top of it).

Google Earth Link

https://earth.app.goo.gl/WhrWJ7

 

Is that another native sabal minor in Va?

Nothing to say here. 

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19 hours ago, SEVA said:

I visited this area last fall and spotted this on the edge of the water. Saw some Spanish moss too, but not nearly as much as First Landing or even Lake Drummond.

202893F0-85B1-4C08-90ED-32C4AC3BABFA.jpeg

 

1 hour ago, SEVA said:

While it’s possible that it’s naturalized from a cultivated specimen, I don’t think juvenile status is an indicator of wild seed-sourced or cultivated seed-sourced. From a quick search, the Monkey Island (NC) population is only about 10 miles from the Virginia line and a little over 20 miles from this location. I suppose it’s possible a seed could have been carried here from miles away, but I’m thinking it came from the palm in the link below. I guess I missed it in person. Of course, I don’t know if that larger palm was planted or came up volunteer. I just know personally, I wouldn’t have planted it under a fence (or installed a fence over top of it).

Google Earth Link

https://earth.app.goo.gl/WhrWJ7

 

Wow! That is a great find for Virginia, native or naturalized. I remember seeing the palm by that wooden fence on google maps as well when this topic came up. I assume that palm is at least naturalized, considering its location (like you said). It's also a decent size too. So if all of these pictures are included, that's three minors in that area. I wonder if there is a native or naturalized population out there? 

Edited by PalmTreeDude
Added More Text

PalmTreeDude

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A historical book in the Poquoson Library mentioned sabal minor growing on the Virginia Peninsula around 1800.  The writer was an early English botanist.  A historical cold in the early 1800s killed off many species in the Southeast.  Either it used to be native, or he mistook yuccas for sabal minor.  Since he was a botanist, he may have known what he was talking about.  Kind of like Bertram in North Florida seeing royal palms around the same time period.  After that historic cold event, no further mention of royal palms in north Florida.

That being said, I've seen trachycarpus in the wild in NC.  Just saying 

God bless America...

and everywhere else too.

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  • 5 months later...

Hi, I live about a mile from this location and can answer a few questions with a pretty high degree of confidence. The bigger one by the fence was planted, and I believe it is from Gary Hollar's Monkey Island stock.  The smaller one growing under a fence about 20 yards away is naturalized.  

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