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wetsuiter

Sabal Minor Seed Collecting in Texas?

wetsuiter
12 years ago

I'm doing a two week road trip for Thanksgiving and will end up in Dallas and Houston visiting family.

Can anyone give me some suggestions where I can harvest sabal minor seeds? I'd love to get a good number of the most hardy varieties like sabal brazorensis. Can anyone offer specific locations in NE and SE Texas? I don't want to detour too far off I-20 coming into DFW area or too far from Houston.

I don't want to violate any collecting prohibition in nature preserves, trespass or slog thru snake-infested swamps. The easier the better.

I'll be heading back to the East Coast via the Gulf and Atlantic Seaboard, so will be looking for similar collecting sites in those areas. I'll be looking for tips for that part of my trip.

Thanks for your help.

Comments (12)

  • brooklyngreg
    12 years ago

    Hi Wetsuiter,

    I have seeds I can send you of the sabal minor, and the Hatterus type that likes it swampy. If you are touring an area or pull off on a dirt road; off the beaten track most people don't mind you taking some seeds. There are millions of them that go to waste. I did not realize the sabal minors grow wild in TX???
    In any case, be careful because law enforcement can be tricky in back-road towns. I drive to Fl almost every year and when we stop there's wild oranges and palms etc. and we stop sometimes to pick an oranage or get some seeds. Heck, in FL they are VERY busy plowing under all the natural plants to build new homes and stores everywhere I look - the recent economy being the exception.

    PS, if you want the seeds, you can send me a self addressed envelope. Let me know by emailing me at gchristiangreg@aol.com and I give you my mailing address.

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Greg, thanks for the offer. I will take you up on it. I collected some sabal minor seeds in Hatteras last march. By then, most seeds had dropped, so I didn't get all that many. I have one lone surviving seedling in a pot.

    I'm hoping that in Texas there are some growing along the sides of the road like I saw in Hatteras. After doing some research, there are minors growing in NE Texas (same population as the McCurtain variety in SE Oklahoma), the brazoriensis variety south of Houston and some other varieties farther inland.

    The Brazos variety is supposedly a very hardy hybrid crossed between s. minor and Mexican sabal. They do trunk like s. Birmingham and have really large Costa palmate fronds--but not as curved as s. palmetto. I'd love to get my hands on a stalk or two of seed clusters from them.

  • brooklyngreg
    12 years ago

    Sounds good, let me know. Meanwhile, have fun in TX and let us know what the palm situation is there.

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Greg, I sent you an email.

    Yesterday, I called the the San Bernardo Wildlife Preserve (south of Houston) and asked about the Brazoria Sabals there. Apparently, they are located in a remote area not accessible ny car or foot. Same with a stand of sabal minors just south of Dallas--deep in a snake infested swampy area. I'll just keep my eyes open elsewhere.

  • brooklyngreg
    12 years ago

    OK, I'll check my email. Once you are there, you may find swampy spots with palms along the road. That's what happened to me in coastal NC.

  • Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
    12 years ago

    Hi Wetsuiter,

    Have fun down there!!!

    Happy Thanksgiving!!!

    I checked the seeds at the corner... they are still green..

    Where on Atl AV were the others ..Ill check for you next week. You can send me an email to let me know!!!

    Have fun!!!

    Laura in VB

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Greg, I did bring rubber boots just incase. Also have garden glives, clippers and long handled loppers. Not what most people take on a Thanksgiving road trip! I'm sure everyone here has their eye out for palm seeds when they travel.

    Thanks, Laura. Appreciate you monitoring them!

  • Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
    12 years ago

    Wetsuiter,

    Laughing here!!! : )

    I cant think of anything else to take for Thanksgiving...except some paper bags for the seeds and maybe some rope!!! LOL, actually...LMAO!!!!!

    Oh..how about a Pumpkin Pie

    Confession time...

    Once while i was out of town, I saw some seeds on a beautiful Tree in Puerto Rico. My kids were with me at the time and I saw some pods that were ready for the picking, so...naturally, I convinced the taxi cab driver to pull off of the road so I could run across the highway and collect my seeds!!! : )

    My kids were mortified!!! We still laugh at that incident and I remember that the pods were not legal to bring back anyway... He He!!!

    Just felt like sharing the story..I know all of us who love these trees and other tropicals understand...

    Have fun!!!

    Ill check on the other seeds next week for you!!! Maybe, while my daughter is here for Thanksgiving...we can do another "Road Trip" LOL!!!

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

    Laura in VB

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I got some good sabal minor seed collecting in NE Louisiana today on my drive into Dallas.

    I noticed the first clump of minors in Central Mississippi along I-20. But I didn't notice any more until crossing into Louisiana. It's lower, wetter terrain for the first 30 miles in Louisiana, so there were nice clumps of sabals. It was very tempting to just slam on the breaks on the Interstate, but figured it would be better to pull off an exit.

    The first exit wasn't a good choice, but the second one was great. The "Green Bayou" sign was a good clue. There were lots growing on the side of the road adjacent to the water (none across the road by the dryer farm fields). The picking was pretty easy too and I was able to gather about five good stalks full of ripe berries. I'm guessing being that far north in Louisiana, they'd be almost as Hardy as the ones in NE Texas and SE Oklahoma.

    I'm hoping to gather some sabal Louisiana in the Cajun country on the way back east next week.

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Was able to collect a lot of Sabal Minor seeds along US Rte 90 west of Beaumont, Texas today. Nothing in Louisiana today; most disappointed no to see any Sabal Louisiana. I did encounter one very large looking Sabal Minor near where I started collecting in East Texas. It had very large fronds and perhaps a short trunk forming, which lead me to believe it may have been a s. Louisiana. Sadly, that beauty had no seed stalk.

  • timintexas
    12 years ago

    If you return for a family vist next year and still need Sabal seeds...they are all along I-20 but ya' can't see them! LOL. I live 13 miles South of I-20 (by Marshall, TX) and the woods are thick with them.

    I too collect seeds when I travel. My gardens are full of the offspring of some cool tree or plant I discovered while working out of state. In fact, I have a nasty infection from a spine that stabbed my finger while digging out the seeds in the crown of a particularly beautiful C. Humilis last week in Lake Charles, La. My poor, red, throbing finger- the things we do for seeds (eyes down-cast in shame).

  • wetsuiter
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, Jim. It was dark by the time I hit the Texas state line on I-20, so I just pressed on to Dallas. I was pretty pleased with the minors I found in NE Louisiana and Southeast, Texas. And in the Cajun country I found a large grove of sabal Louisiana with plenty of seeds. I will keep that offer in mind should I be crazy enough to drive it again!

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