I came across this article and found it so odd. Can any elaborate or know about this story beyond the briesf article? Just wanted to share since it's palm related:

WBBH

FWC officers make guns-drawn arrest of 3 men accused of p...

FWC says officers found three men hiding in chest-deep water after a search for saw palmetto berry pickers in Charlotte County.

Yep. In Florida, it is illegal to harvest saw palmetto seeds without a permit and the signed landowners permission in your possession.

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

I would retitle this, "Serenoa Seed Thieves"

I think everyone in Florida and landscaping folks from SC to LA are aware of the restriction.

What is the backstory though? Are they just reselling to palm growers?

44 minutes ago, tinman10101 said:

What is the backstory though? Are they just reselling to palm growers?

Seeds have a long history use in legal / black market " Saw Palmetto " Herbal supplements..

Here's another recent " Saw Palmetto thief " story:
https://www.fox13news.com/news/polk-county-sheriffs-deputies-crack-down-berry-bandits-during-palmetto-harvesting-season

Just plug in " Saw Palmetto supplements" into a search .....

Also they are a major component in the diet of Black Bears , fattening up for the Winter ..

Thanks for the info. I never knew there was value in these seeds beyond palmtalk members. Lol

I seem to have a pretty good crop of them this year on my silver saw palms. The fruit tastes absolutely horrible in case anyone was wondering...😄

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

45 minutes ago, aztropic said:

I seem to have a pretty good crop of them this year on my silver saw palms. The fruit tastes absolutely horrible in case anyone was wondering...😄

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona

I'm going to wade through your Koi pond and steal those...

56 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

I'm going to wade through your Koi pond and steal those...

All that for a few palm seeds, they would go crazy in Tassie with all them apples and poppys to steal!

We have thousands planted in municipal parks, near highways in medians and shoulders, and throughout nature preserves. Within weeks of maturing, the plants will be stripped bare of every berry by poachers. A few of us that have mature specimens on our property have had to chase poachers off private property.

11 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

We have thousands planted in municipal parks, near highways in medians and shoulders, and throughout nature preserves. Within weeks of maturing, the plants will be stripped bare of every berry by poachers. A few of us that have mature specimens on our property have had to chase poachers off private property.

That's crazy, there must be some real money in it to go to that effort?

About $1/lb for the thieves. They can do up to 1000 lbs/day per person.

3 hours ago, Johnny Palmseed said:

About $1/lb for the thieves. They can do up to 1000 lbs/day per person.

Florida's next big crop? Sales pitch writes itself: " Protecting your Prostate, ...in the Sunshine state " 🙃🤣

....In all seriousness though..

After ..years.. of seeing it marketed, on store shelves, etc, intrigued that there is still a demand for it since many legit studies into Saw Palmetto's effectiveness are highly questionable / uncertain.

..At least with other herbal things, like Ginsing, and / or Senna ( Usually Senna alata ..or Cassia fistula extracts ) there is ..pretty certain.. ( ...I'll leave some room for reasonable questioning of either plant's " benefits" ) evidence of each supplement's positive effectiveness.

there are two types of prostate drugs, alpha blockers that cause muscle relaxation like FloMax and ease symptoms and drugs that shrink an enlarged prostate, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs). Flowmax type symptom relievers make up 1.3 billion a year sales. The 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) that shrink the prostate make up 7.3 billion a year. The saw palmetto extract is a symptom reliever not a prostate shrinker and it cannot be a powder, it has to be a gelcap. The powder supplement doesn't work at all. Likely there was oxidation of antioxidants in the capsule, but they dont relieve symptoms at all. If the studies are evaluating relief of symptoms, saw palmetto extract works as well as Flomax but with no notable side effects. Latter stage prostate disease will absolutely need the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors as a swollen prostate require a different treatment for prostate shrinkage. Drug companies offer both products. But relief of symptoms is quite good with the saw palmetto extract gelcap. I dont have an enlarged prostate just some symptoms and am glad I found the saw palmetto extract. My doctor recommended it over Flomax. I have zero symptoms if I take it every other or every 3rd day. Why the thieves? Maybe because they dont want to rob stores as that could get you shot here in Florida. I do expect the therapeutics were overhyped as usual by a marketing type looking to make the most profit possible. The price tripled for a while then came back down to 7-8 gelcaps per dollar.