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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Serenoa repens | Saw-Palmetto
 

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BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SPECIES: Serenoa repens | Saw-Palmetto
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : Saw-palmetto usually grows as a small shrub with creeping, horizontal, many-branched stems. Occasionally it grows as a small tree with erect or oblique stems. As a shrub, it grows to a height of 2 to 7 feet (0.6-2.1 m). As a tree, it may reach 20 to 25 feet (6.0-7.5 m). In its procumbent form, saw-palmetto branches form a tangled mass, with the root crown projecting above to support the foliage. The stem systems run parallel to the soil surface, eventually branching beneath the substrate to form rhizomes. Saw-palmetto leaves are fan-shaped, evergreen and about 3 feet (1 m) wide. The petioles are armed with sharp spines, giving saw-palmetto its common name. The white, perfect flowers are borne on stalked panicles that grow from the leaf axils. The fruit is a fleshy, elipsoid drupe, which is green or yellow before ripening but becomes bluish or black as it matures [10,15,26,32]. RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte) Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte) Burned or Clipped State: Cryptophyte (geophyte) REGENERATION PROCESSES : Vegetative: Saw-palmetto sprouts from horizontal stems and rhizomes. Sexual: Saw-palmetto flowers are insect pollinated. Extensive wildlife use of saw-palmetto fruit suggests that its seeds are animal dispersed. The fruit endocarp and seed coat are impermeable to oxygen. Germination may be delayed 4 to 6 months while these tissues deteriorate [19]. The soil characteristics required for germination are unknown. Seedling growth and early development are slow. Establishment requires 2 to 6 years. Flooding prevents establishment on wet sites, and saturated soils retard seedling root development during the summer rainy season. Seedlings are vulnerable to competition, drought, and fire [19]. In the nursery, saw-palmetto may be propagated by seed. Ripe fruit can be collected by hand-picking or by cutting the fruit-bearing panicle, and seeds extracted with a macerator. Commercial sources of saw-palmetto seeds are often available. Seeds with the micropyle cap removed will germinate in 11 days; those with the micropyle cap intact may require 45 to 60 days. Dried seeds average 1,080 per pound (2,376/kg) [32]. SITE CHARACTERISTICS : Saw palmetto grows in a humid, subtropical to warm-temperate climate [19]. Within its range, the average annual rainfall is 39 to 64 inches (100-163 cm). The average maximum and minimum temperatures range from 97 to 25 degrees F (36 to minus 4 deg C) [41]. Saw palmetto usually grows on dry, very well-drained soils [2,30], and avoids swamps and poorly drained river terraces [10]. Preferred soils are "sterile" [30] and have very little mineral or organic content, as typified by fine quartose sands [5]. Soil descriptions are not ablsolute. Saw palmetto may also grow on peaty [40] and poorly drained sites [15]. Saw-palmetto is a common understory shrub of Southern pine flatwoods, growing on the Miami rock ridge pinelands, the dry pineland portions of Big Cypress National Preserve, and commercial plantations [9,35,40]. Elsewhere, it is a codominanant in hardwood- and conifer-dominated scrub communities [4,8,26,37]. In the Everglades region, saw-palmetto is the most common understory shrub in high hammocks and forms a characteristic ring around cypress (Taxodium spp.) heads and burnt-over tree islands. [11,31,37,40]. Strand, dry prairies, and southern oak (Quercus spp.)-pine (Pinus spp.) types indicate other sites where saw-palmetto might be common [8,35]. Common overstory associates include slash pine (Pinus elliottii), south Florida slash pine (P. elliottii var. densa), pond pine (P. serotina), longleaf pine (P. palustris), sand pine (P. clausa), loblolly pine (P. taeda), and cabbage palmetto (Sabel palmetto). Understory associates include gallberry (Ilex glabra), scrub live oak (Quercus virginiana var. geminata), scrub oak (Q. chapmanii), myrtle oak (Q. myrtlifolia), shrubby rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides), scrub palmetto (Sabel etonia), scrub mint (Conradina grandiflora), blazing star (Liatris tenuifolia), pawpaw (Asimina reticulata), scrub clover (Petalostemon feayi), ground blueberry (Vaccinuim myrsinites), and dodder (Cassytha filiformis) [4,21,30,41]. SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : A common understory species, saw-palmetto is shade tolerent and grows in both sunny and shaded habitats [10]. It is a prominent member of several Southern fire-climax communities and is a frequent invader of very dry [40] or frequently burned [37] habitats. SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : Saw-palmetto blooms between April and July [10,19,32]. Maximum spadix initiation begins after the danger of frost is past and may be stimulated by rising temperatures. The fruits ripen in September and October. Maximum saw-palmetto growth occurs during the summer rainy season, achieving 80 percent of annual production between April and October [8,14,32].

Related categories for Species: Serenoa repens | Saw-Palmetto

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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