Tree of the Week: Sabal Palm (Sabal palmetto)

Our tree of the week is pictured center. It's a sabal palm (Sabal palmetto). This is an evergreen species with wonderfully large palm leaves. You can find our particular sabal palm on the west edge of the large vernal pool (formally known as the upper pond), near the Student Union Building.

This sabal palm is a little more than 20 years old. On January 8, 2001, Professor Leuck purchased it from Woodlanders Nursery (Aiken, SC). He then nurtured it for several years in a pot, before planting it in the ground during the spring of 2004. He chose a very wet location―the west edge of the upper pond. Today, this area is still wet, but it no longer retains water throughout the year; it's a vernal pool that typically dries up completely during the long hot days of August.

This specimen is of special interest this week because nearly all of its leaves are drooping. Several weeks ago the leaf tips were upright, stretching out for the sun rays. On January 10th, northwest Louisiana experienced a rare snow event, and snowfall accumulated on these large leaves, weighing them down. The leaves never perked up.

So, today, for the purpose of increasing visibility, the sabal palm was trimmed.

Seven leaves were removed, making the trunk visible, and also allowing for a clearer view of the vernal pool, which will have blooming irises in the near future. Unfortunately, the palm looks nearly bare―only four leaves remain, and two are drooping.

The significance of visibility for an arboretum could perhaps be conveyed with a photo. The following photo was taken during the height of summer vegetation. This photo is of the same location, and if you look closely, you might be able to identify the sabal palm trunk.

This is the large vernal pool near the Student Union Building, photographed on June 7, 2020. In such an overgrown jungle, it's difficult to identify any one specimen, which undermines the purpose of the arboretum.

Visibility increases during the winter because deciduous trees lose their leaves, but several changes were made to this area thanks to the work of Hurricane Laura and the folks that cleared the damage after the fact. You can read about that weather event on another blog post, found here.