native sabal in texas (praha sabal)

[Dwarf Fan]

Cool Necro thread I a going to bring back to life, I have spent a lot of time staring at S. Mexicana & S. Palmetto as they are both common here in Corpus Christi and IMHO the ‘Praha’ looks like a cross between the two, I don’t seen any S. Brazoria genetics in that Palm and I have all 3 growing right now in my backyard.

I believe Praha is too much of both to be one or the other and the seed size seems to confirm what everyone is feeling in their gut about the  Praha.

[Chester B]

I was lucky enough to be the recipient of three germinated seeds.  Unfortunately one died shortly after arrival but I have two that are doing well.  Figured I would be the only one in Oregon with them, but I guess they were a portender or harbinger of my future.  They will be making the trip with me back down to Texas in the near future.  I'm looking forward to growing them up and will probably make a trip out to Praha myself to collect more seed.

[amh]

On 11/7/2023 at 7:40 PM, Chester B said:

I was lucky enough to be the recipient of three germinated seeds.  Unfortunately one died shortly after arrival but I have two that are doing well.  Figured I would be the only one in Oregon with them, but I guess they were a portender or harbinger of my future.  They will be making the trip with me back down to Texas in the near future.  I'm looking forward to growing them up and will probably make a trip out to Praha myself to collect more seed.

I received 3 germinated seeds too, and like you had 1 fail. Have you noticed that the Praha seedlings are very slow growing?

[Chester B]

2 hours ago, amh said:

I received 3 germinated seeds too, and like you had 1 fail. Have you noticed that the Praha seedlings are very slow growing?

They are growing slowly, but all the Sabals do for me, I can't say that I think they are slower than others.  Only on the 4th strap at this point.  Much faster than Sabal "Lisa" though.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Chester B

[amh]

39 minutes ago, Chester B said:

They are growing slowly, but all the Sabals do for me, I can't say that I think they are slower than others.  Only on the 4th strap at this point.  Much faster than Sabal "Lisa" though.

I don't have any Sabal palmettos of the same age, but the "Praha" sabals are the slowest growing palm that I have.

[Joe Marcus]

Some background on Texas Palm, Sabal mexicana, its Praha, Texas connection, and those involved in its research that might be of interest.  I was fortunate enough through my work at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to get to know Bob Harms (through correspondence) and Landon Lockett personally.  They were very interesting men with fascinating life stories.   Both were self-taught botanists.  Coincidentally, each spent professional careers as professors at the University of Texas working in different fields of linguistics.

Years before Bob Harms investigated the perplexing Texas palms, Landon Lockett began a quest to understand them spurred by an off-hand comment by a botanist friend.  The two men were traveling in South Texas one day when Lockett noticed a large palm tree near the highway.  He asked his friend what tree that was, and the botanist said, "Oh, that must be a large Sabal minor.  As Landon told the story, "I was not particularly expert in Latin--Portuguese was my language of study--but I knew enough to know that "minor" means small, and there was nothing small about that palm!"

That incident set Lockett on a journey of discovery that continued for many years until his death in 2010.  He never allowed being wheelchair bound with breathing assistance due to a crippling bout with polio acquired while he was a young West Point cadet slow him down.  He published papers on the findings his research after showing that far from extirpated from Texas, numerous populations of Sabal mexicana do exist, some perhaps, naturally.  In the course of his research, he found unusual trees that he surmised must be hybrids.  Eventually, he was proven correct when the research on Sabal × brazoriensis  was published after his death.

Landon Lockett also told me his theory as to why Sabal mexicana, a species once common across the Texas coastal plain as far inland as San Antonio, and perhaps even Austin, had virtually disappeared by the Twentieth Century.  First, was an unfortunate characteristic of producing the much-loved "heart of palm".  Many trees would have been harvested by the Spaniards who lived in the area in those days solely for that delicacy.  Large specimens would have been cut and used as pier pilings since the wood of the tree is resistant to ship worms.

Landon Lockett and I traveled to Garcitas Creek on the Texas coast, which the Frenchman LaSalle had explored during his ill-fated mission in 1685.  After exploring the creek, he noted the many large palms growing there.  Once denuded of palms, today, the banks of the creek and the surrounding area are again dotted with Texas Palms of all sizes, including some very large specimens.

Landon and I also visited Praha, Texas together where he pointed out its thriving population of palms, which it is now clear, are the hybrid, Sabal × brazoriensis.   A heartbreaking note about the tiny town of Praha; it holds the unfathomable distinction of losing the greatest percentage of its population of any town in America during World War II, when nine of its finest young men gave their lives in the service of our nation.  It is fitting that one of Texas' most beautiful Catholic churches dominates the landscape, along with its enormous palms, in the tiny Czech community.

We are indebted to these men, and other citizen scientists like them who contribute so much invaluable understanding to the scientific record.

[Chester B]

@Joe Marcus thanks for the post.  So these are in fact Brazoriensis then?  Just very old and very tall examples.  

[Joe Marcus]

Sorry!  I misspoke on that!  I am not sure what they are, and will defer to those will much better understanding of our Sabal palms to make a call on that.  Lockett believed that the palms around the church were Sabal mexicana, and suspected that those in the creek bed nearby were hybrids.  Because he could not reach those palms in his wheelchair, he didn't know what they were at the time we visited them.

By the way, he believed, as others now do, that the natural range of Sabal mexicana once extended up Texas waterways as far inland as San Antonio, and perhaps even to Austin.