Saw Palmetto

Vânia Pereira, Mica McMillan, Wagner Vendrame, and Kara McCoy

This publication is intended for anyone interested in identifying and utilizing this Florida native palm in their landscape. Serenoa repens is native to the Southeastern United States and found mostly in Florida coastal woodland coastal locations. Most often referred to as saw palmetto, this slow-growing, small palm only reaches 3–6 feet in height. Its waxy leaves vary in color. The stiff leaves are folded slightly and divided deeply into several dozen segments that split at the tip. Saw palmetto is essentially trunkless and will have 12–30 leaves in total. It has white flowers that bear blue-black fruit. This small palm forms as a ground cover in pinelands along the Southern Coastal Plain. The plants are best established from containers and can be difficult to transplant from the field. Known for its medicinal benefits, the fruits of the saw palmetto are sold in health food stores across the United States and harvested by pharmaceutical companies for medicinal purposes.

By Vânia Maria Pereira, Thiago Souza Campos, Wagner Vendrame, and Raelene M. Crandall

This publication informs fire and natural resources managers as well as other interested people about the relationship between saw palmetto and fire. Saw palmetto is a palm native to the southeastern United States. Like other southeastern palms, saw palmetto thrives in frequently burned environments. Its highly combustible dead leaves fuel fires, after which saw palmetto benefits from the post-fire environment, exhibiting increased growth, resprouting, and induction of flowering. Saw palmettos can survive fires because of their well-insulated buds and waxy leaves. The meristem, where new growth originates, is located inside the top of the stem-like rhizome. Younger leaves grow in the center under several layers of older leaves. Old leaves persist over time and insulate and protect the meristem. This publication includes best management practices for managing saw palmetto to reduce fire hazard and maintain the health of saw palmetto and the entire the landscape.