keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

474 ARECACEAE/SABAL
REFERENCES: Bailey 1961; Moore 1973; Moore & Uhl 1982; Dahlgren et al. 1985; Dransfield 1986;
Dransfield & Uhl 1986, 1998; Henderson 1986; Uhl & Dransfield 1987, 1999; Zona & Henderson
1989; Tomlinson 1990; Lockett 1991; Henderson et al. 1995; Uhl et al. 1995; Zona 1997, 2000;
Anzizar et al. 1998; Baker et al. 1999; Henderson & Borchsenius 1999; Asmussen et al. 2000.
SABAL Adans. PALMETTO
Perennials with subterranean or aerial, woody or pithy, unbranched spineless stems and a
single apical meristem; leaves long-petioled, the blades stiff, evergreen, glabrous, fan-like, longitudinally
pleated toward base, palmately divided over half way (sometimes becoming split to
base) into many narrowly lanceolate segments; hastula (= flap of tissue from petiole where
petiole meets blade) well-developed, adaxial; inflorescence a long panicle with 2 or 3 orders of
branching, its stalk with leafy bracts consisting of a closed, tubular basal sheath and grass-like
short blade; flowers numerous, bisexual, subsessile, small (3.5–6.5 mm long); calyx 3-lobed; petals
3, whitish or greenish, longer than the calyx; stamens 6; pistil 1; ovary superior; fruits drupelike,
but with membranous endocarps, black or brownish black.
AA genus of 16 species (Zona 2000) of trunkless or trunked, unarmed palms ranging from the
se United States to South America. Some are used as a source of thatch. Pollination in the genus
is mostly by native bees, introduced honeybees, and wasps (Zona 1987, 1990, 2000; Ramp 1989).
Bears are reported to disperse the seeds of Sabal species in Florida (Zona & Henderson 1989).
(Derivation unknown, the name possibly derived from an American vernacular name)
REFERENCES: Small 1922; Nixon et al. 1973; Zona 1987, 1990; Lockett & Read 1990; Lockett 1991,
1995, 2003; Ramp & Thien 1995; Goldman 1999.
1. Stems (trunk) aerial; leaves 10–30 per plant, the segments 60–115(–145) per leaf, marginally
filiferous (= thread-bearing); hastula 9.5–15.5 cm long, acute to acuminate; inflorescences with 3
orders of branching (not counting main inflorescence axis); fruits � 13 mm long; species rare in
East TX ________________________________________________________________________ S. mexicana
1. Stems usually subterranean, the plants thus usually appearing to be without a stem (aerial stems
rarely present); leaves 4–10 per plant, the segments 15–65(–84) per leaf, marginally not filiferous;
hastula 0.8–4.7 cm long, obtuse; inflorescences usually with 2 orders of branching (not counting
main inflorescence axis); fruits � 9 mm long; species widespread and abundant in East TX _________ S. minor
Sabal mexicana Mart., (of Mexico), MEXICAN PALMETTO, RIO GRANDE PALMETTO, TEXAS PALMETTO,
PALMA DE MICHAROS. Plant to 15 m tall (Lockett [2003] measured a fallen stem ca. 11 m long);
stems (trunk) aerial, 20–35 cm DBH (= diam. breast height). Evergreen subtropical woodlands
on deep alluvial soils (TOES 1993), floodplains, riverbanks, and swamps; included based on research
and collections by Lockett (1991, 2003), who worked with the diary of Fray Isidro Felix
de Espinosa, a priest who accompanied a 1716 Spanish expedition into the area that is now San
Antonio. Espinosa “reported seeing ‘palmitos legítimos’ at San Antonio Springs, source of the
San Antonio River, in what is today the city of San Antonio” (Lockett 1991). Lockett subsequently
found S. mexicana in remnant forests near San Antonio springs (Bexar Co.). According
to Lockett, “Since S. mexicana is commonly cultivated in the area there appears to be no way of
knowing, without intensive historical research, whether the wild specimens are the progeny of
imported transplants, or are descendants of a native population, which itself may have been
relocated for landscaping. What we do know is that S. mexicana thrives in the area, while S.
minor is lacking.” Zona (2000) also mapped a locality for S. mexicana (county not specified) in
the sw part of East TX. Lockett and Read (1990) cited plants from Jackson and Victoria cos.
(along Garcitas Creek), and Turner et al. (2003) also mapped Brazos (presumably introduced),
Cameron (native), and Harris (s portion—native status unknown) cos.; probably extreme s portion
of East TX, but mainly Rio Grande Valley in the South TX Plains and central Gulf Coast in
Gulf Prairies and Marshes (Lockett & Read 1990); Lockett (2003) also noted that the species is