Native Plant Highlight: Saw Palmetto

Native Plant Highlight: Saw Palmetto

Serenoa repens (W. Bartram) Small (Saw Palmetto)

by: Gail Farley, Coastal Plains Chapter- Georgia Native Plant Society

Serenoa repens, commonly called saw palmetto, in North America is found primarilyin the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Sawpalmetto is native to almost all counties in Florida.

Found below Georgia’s Fall Line, Serenoa repens is documented to occur in nine natural environments in the Georgia Coastal Plain Provinces. It’s found on hardwood hammocks of the Okefenokee Swamp, upland and lowland Maritime forests, pine flatwoods, barrier islands and more. It’s ubiquitous to coastal Georgia. (photo: Karan Rawlins, Bugwood.org)

Saw palmetto’s landscape profile, compared to its tall and regal relative, Sabal palmetto or Cabbage Palm, is a would-be palm tree whose trunk sprawls on the ground and trips hikers not paying attention to where they’re walking. It’s the horizontal growth habit of Saw palmetto’s stems or trunk that gives Serenoa its species name - “repens” which is Latin for ‘creeping’. The genus - Serenoa - is named for the saw-like edges of the palms’ petioles or stems. “Serra” is Latin for ‘saw’.(photo: Bugwood.org)

It’s the sharp, saw-like appendages that run the length of the petiole edges that is its characteristic trait. It’s also one of the reasons why saw palmetto is such an ecologically valuable ‘key stone’ species. The saw palmetto shrub is armed with an abundance of protective, overlapping saw-toothed stems, a 3-8’ canopy of pointy, prickly, 3’ wide, evergreen fan-like palm fronds and a swath of gnarly, tough trunks grabbing the ground. It’s for these reasons Serenoa repens is a fortress for both predators and prey alike.

Endangered Florida panthers and black bears use palmetto colonies as cover. Burrowing owls, endemic to a few counties in central to south Florida, dig burrows in the sandy soils surrounding the palmetto’s ground hugging stems. Snakes, birds (Crested Caracara, Scrub Blue Jays, Sandhill Cranes, Grasshopper and Bachman’s Sparrows and Sedge Wren), reptiles, and other wildlife (Beach mice, Cotton mice and Golden mice) escape predation inside the protective barrier of dense palmetto clumps. Serenoa repens is the host plant for the Palmetto skipper caterpillar. Overall, more than 100 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles and 300+ insects use saw palmetto as cover and/or food.

While providing cover, Serenoa repens flowers and its fruits feed a horde of birds, pollinators, mammals and reptiles. When in bloom, the fragrant, perfect, small yellow-white flowers borne on stalked panicles attract 300 plus insects that forage on the bloom’s pollen and nectar. Honey bees collecting the floral resources create in their hives a very popular ‘palmetto honey’. (photo: Bugwood.org)

The fruit, noted in 1898 for its “great fattening properties” is high in crude fiber and an energy-rich food. It’s a major food source for many wildlife - black bears, white-tailed deer, raccoons, foxes, opossums, gopher tortoises, turtles, feral hogs, wild turkey and bobwhite quail. Pollinated primarily by female native bees and honey bees, if present, the fruit is a fleshy, ellipsoid drupe about ¾ inch long, which turns from a young green or yellow to a ripe bluish or black fruit. (photo: Bugwood.org)

Palmetto fruits have been used historically to treat diseases of human reproductive glands, as a digestive aid and to treat colds and bronchitis. A Google search of Serenoa repens shows scholastic articles that refer to current research on the medicinal value of saw palmetto fruits. Drive the back roads of South Georgia and it’s not uncommon to see a sign ‘Wanted: Palmetto Fruits’. What started as a cottage industry is now the domain of pharmaceutical research into the medicinal benefits of Serenoa repens fruit to treat prostate disorders, promote urination and reduce inflammation.

Ethnobotanical studies and coastal archeological sites show Serenoa repens has been an important food and cultural resource for Southeastern tribes, such as Tequesta, Seminole, Creek, Miccosukee and pre-Columbian peoples. Ripe fruits were gathered and eaten in late summer or fall. Naturalist William Bartram, who named Serenoa repens on his travels through the southeast in 1770s, noted that tribes made much use of the palms.

Saw palmetto petioles were stripped of its ‘saws’ and split into strips for use in basketry and sieves. African Americans made saw palmetto hats and sold them to southern soldiers. Stalk fibers were made into fish drags, rope and brushes by the Seminole. The palm fronds served as roofing material for homes, were crafted into dance fans, rattles and toy dolls. The photo below shows palmetto fronds trimmed into fans (photo taken Heather Brasell at Day in the Woods event, March 2019 at Gaskins Forest Education Center in Alapaha, GA)

Palmetto’s value to wildlife and humans stops when cattle ranching or farming is mentioned. Ranchers consider saw palmetto a nuisance and fire hazard, although it’s reported that Saw Palmetto is an important winter food source for cattle in South Florida. Sheep have been used to keep palmetto growth in check.

Fire only stimulates Serenoa repens to grow back with vigor. The palm fronds are highly flammable, but the ground hugging stems, branches, roots are fire adapted. The charred outer skin of palmetto stems following a fire are called ‘alligator backs’ as the exterior burned surface looks like the back of an alligator. (“alligator back” photo c/o Bugwood.org)

Another way to generate new growth is to cut back all the fronds, hoping the plant won’t come back. The author’s spouse tried this on a Saw Palmetto clump near the mailbox. Within a year, the clump had sprouted a larger, fresh set of new green palm fronds. And so it remains to this day. It’s now in full bloom, smells quite fragrant and has many insects on its blooms. (photo: author, Gail Farley, p 32)

Tasked with removing a palmetto clump in the backyard, my husband hacked, dug, axed, and chainsaw attacked the very stubborn clump. He did prevail, but later said saw palmetto is “a vicious, worthy opponent of any yards man; it’s a survivor”.

We now live peacefully with the Serenoa repens clumps that populated our landscape when we bought our coastal St Marys, Georgia home in 2010 (minus the one Mr. Farley removed).

Throughout the year, we enjoy the constant stream of wildlife – birds, pollinators, butterflies, insects, rabbits, snakes, armadillos (and our two dogs chasing the wildlife)...that find cover, food and nesting habitat within the protective and nurturing bastion that is Serenoa repens. Saw palmetto is a native plant worthy of respect. Its wildlife and human value in habitats where it occurs should never be taken for granted.