Double Leaf Sabal etonia - Two eophylls

[MichaelB]

I came across something very unusual last night. Amongst a group of Sabal etonia I recently germinated, I noticed that this one seedling has two eophylls! I have never seen this before and was wondering if anyone else has. I assume that two eophylls means that two spears exist.

 

 

   

 

 

[MichaelB]

An exciting update to this post! With its twin eophylls at only 1.5 inches long, the double leaf etonia is starting to putt out another leaf! I am honestly amazed by this and can't wait to see if two leaves emerge. This is truly a unique specimen that I will continue to update on.

[Harry’s Palms]

I look forward to updates on this little guy . I am unfamiliar with this species. Harry

[PalmatierMeg]

I'm still not sure what I am looking at. Are you saying one seed put up two germinations, i.e., twins? I have twin coconut dwarf red spicata palm offspring from one seed germinated in 2015. I've kept them planted together after Hurricane Irma and both survived the destruction of Hurricane Ian.

Also, Sabals have a nifty talent for growing an alternate growing point if the original growing point is damaged or destroyed. My one and only Sabal miamiensis I received ca. 2009 lost its first growing point. I was distraught but kept my "dead" seedling in its pot and cared for it. Months later it put up a replacement growing point and never looked back. It's about 10' tall and set seeds regularly prior to Ian.

I suggest trying to grow it/them up in pots to palmate leaf stage before planting them a few years from now in the spring. Keep us updated. 

regards

 

[MichaelB]

I did not know that about sabals! I’m glad you told me. In this case, no damage occurred. This is a pristine young seedling that only germinated a couple of months ago. When the first leaf emerged, it appeared to be a typical single leaf. And several weeks later at some point I just noticed the second “first leaf”. On the subject of my last post about the second leaf emerging, have you ever seen a sabal put out another leaf that fast? 

[MichaelB]

Just wanted to follow up on this post with some updated photos and information. After continual observation, the double leaf seems to be an isolated occurrence on this seedling. All of the subsequent leaves have been singular, which is the typical form, especially at this age. (more on that below) Now that the plant has grown a bit, it is much easier to see that this double leaf is a true bifurcated form. 

In researching this a little deeper, I discovered that bifurcated leaf tips are actually a common trait of Sabal etonia, despite this not being mentioned at all in several palm identification books. This bifurcation is very subtle compared to other well known species that put out bifurcated leaves, and after examining several photos of mature etonia leaves, it is noticeable that the leaves almost appear to be missing a leaflet in the dead center of the leaf. (Does anyone have a mature etonia they can post pictures of? )

 

I initially came across this information from an old University of Florida Fact Sheet from 1999 (attached below). 

sabetoa.pdf