Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-925
Dwarf Palmetto
Sabal minor
Dwarf palmetto is a stemless fan palm that grows straight out of the ground in swamps and floodplains, one of only a handful of palms native to the United States. It shrugs off standing water, drought once established, salt spray, deer and heat, and it is the most cold-hardy member of its genus - some specimens survive well north of where palms normally grow. The fronds are cut for thatch and the fruit feeds birds and mammals, but growth is slow and young plants are the hardest part: they establish poorly and are usually raised in containers for several years before being safe to plant out at the cold edge of the range. It spreads only by seed, never by runner, so a planted clump stays exactly where it was put.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 7–10
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6–6.5
- Plant type
- Evergreen Tree
- Mature height
- 4–6 ft
- Mature spread
- 4–6 ft
- Plant spacing
- 3–6 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-deep
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
African Blue Basil
Ocimum kilimandscharicum
African Blue Basil is a sterile hybrid between camphor basil and the purple-leaved Dark Opal basil, propagated from cuttings rather than seed…
Shrub · USDA 10–11
Agarita
Alloberberis trifoliolata
Agarita is a dense, spiny-leaved evergreen shrub of rocky limestone hills, slopes and thickets from south Texas through the Trans-Pecos to…
Shrub · USDA 7–9
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Black Currant
Ribes americanum
American black currant is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to the cooler parts of eastern and central North America, from Alberta to…
Shrub · USDA 3–7
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference