Arkansas Sabal Minors

19 years ago

This weekend I headed down to Southern Arkansas in search of our state's one and only native palm, the Sabal minor.

As I headed south toward Pine Bluff, there were no visible minors from the interstate, even in wet areas where

they would typically grow. So I continued south toward the Saline River and saw my first isolated stand of minors just off Highway 63.

Here is a picture of them...

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It appeared as I got closer that there were no inflorescense on these beauties. I'm not sure why because they seems large enough to reproduce. There were a few stalks on a couple of them but were from last year. So I headed on Southward and didn't see too much until I got closer to the Saline River area. I checked around the easy access areas like the boat ramps but found no minors present. The river was over its flood banks by a few feet and was very full with all the recent rainfall. I continued to search along the Saline River and nearby streams in its basin and discovered some very nice sabals along the flood plain.

They seem to be clustered about in certain areas along the river, but there are many places were they continue into the hardwood forest. An interesting observation I found was that the largest minors grow under the hardwoods and must be very shaded in the summertime.

The minors under the pine trees seemed to be a bit smaller. There were several seeds left, but the wildlife have already had a field day with them! It seems that they don't wait long to get this tasty treat. It was a really nice day with Mostly Cloudy skies and temperatures around 60F. I had a great time searching for these beauties and they are really a gem adding great diversity to the state. I would like to see them spread up the Saline River closer to the Little Rock area. After what I saw today, I find it hard to believe that there aren't any in central Arkansas close to the Saline River.

Here is a link that might be useful: Additional Pictures

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Comments (3)

den_vic
19 years ago
Sabals are a rare find (in nurseries) in British Columbia.
Slow as Sabals are...Folks usually opt for Trachys. I think that the S. minor palms are great under larger palms. But in my area, T. nanus will probably become a choice over S. minor once it's available in nurseries.

Cheers
jayreynolds
19 years ago
Nice to see those pictures. I planted one in Ncentral AR. The house protects the plant on the north side, and stone walls are to the east & west, full southern exposure.

While you might get one to live further north, perhaps the reason why they haven't naturalized there in Cent. AR is that they don't reproduce well enough in the colder zone to self-seed? For almost any tender plant, head north and sooner or later you reach it's limit on zone tolerance, right?
austinl
Original Author
19 years ago
There's a guy in OK City and Tulsa that have sabal minors flourishing and setting seed each year! Our central AR climate is warmer so they should be reproducing quite well here. It's hardy to 5*F or colder, so hardiness isn't a factor. I think that the wildlife have not spread it northward because birds always migrate south. Just my thoughts.