Establishment growth of cabbage palm, sabal palmetto (arecaceae)

Abstract

Cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) go through an establishment phase during which the stem grows downward for a period of time before growing upward. We estimated the duration of this phase for cabbage palms growing in coastal forest in Florida using a matrix model approach. All data were collected over a 2‐yr period (1993‐1995) in coastal forest at Waccasassa∗∗∗ Bay, Florida. The minimum time projected by the model for a plant to develop an aboveground trunk was 14 yr. We estimate that the fastest growing 1, 10, and 50% of plants would develop an aboveground trunk in 33, 42, and 59 yr, respectively. The projected duration of the trunkless phase is surprisingly long but not unlike other palms with similar types of establishment growth. Our estimates are much longer than anecdotal estimates for cabbage palms grown under nursery conditions but are similar to anecdotal estimates for plants grown in field conditions. Management practices that remove cabbage palms with aboveground stems usually leave a population of palms without aboveground stems that serves as temporary reserve for relatively rapid recovery of the palm stand. This may foster the perception by many that cabbage palms are fast growing.