Journal of the Southeastern Palm and Exotic Plant Society ... · Journal of the Southeastern Palm...

Journal of the Southeastern Palm and Exotic Plant Society Volume 9, No. 1

Fall 2001

Contents

Front cover: Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ blooms in the garden of Joe LeVert at Augusta, Ga. Photos are by the editor unless otherwise noted.

Rhapidophyllum is the quarterly journal of the Southeastern Palm and Exotic Plant

Society, the southeastern (non-Florida) chapter of the International Palm Society. SPEPS members are devoted to growing palms and other subtropical plants in USDA Zones 7, 8 and 9. Visit the SPEPS website at www.speps.net. Membership in SPEPS is open to all. Benefits include a subscription to Rhapidophyllum, quarterly meetings at public and private gardens in the southeastern United States, and auctions and sales of rare plants. To join, send a check for $15 to the treasurer. Member-ship is for one calendar year, and membership requests received after October will be ap-plied to the following year unless otherwise requested. SPEPS members are encouraged to join the International Palm Society. IPS dues are $35 per year and include the quarterly journal Palms. Send dues to: The International Palm Society, P.O. Box 368, Lawrence, KS 66044. Visit the IPS website at www.palms.org.

OFFICERS President Tom McClendon 4531 Highway 15 South Greensboro, GA 30642 [email protected]

Vice-president and webmaster Don Coleman 5270 Stony Mill Road Keysville, GA 30816 [email protected]

Rhapidophyllum editor Jeff Stevens 10665 High Point Road Apison, TN 37302 [email protected]

• Rhapidophyllum is published in March, June, September and December. E-mail items for publication by the 15th of the preceding month.

Secretary Gene Cooper 2015 Wrenwood Drive SE Huntsville, AL 35803 [email protected]

Treasurer and membership Bob Snyder 1450 Norwich Road Winston-Salem, NC 27127 [email protected]

• Please include your phone or e-mail when corresponding.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Alabama Hayes Jackson 1300 Old Gadsden Highway Anniston, AL 36206 [email protected]

Georgia Will Roberds 2019 McLendon Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30307 [email protected]

North Carolina Gary Hollar 680 Crump Farm Road New Bern, NC 28562 [email protected]

South Carolina Tamar Myers 2506 Long Cove Court Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466 [email protected]

Tennessee Will Taylor 212 Oak Street Athens, TN 37303 [email protected]

Director-at-large Joe LeVert 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue Augusta, GA 30904 [email protected]

Contact the Southeastern Palm and Exotic Plant Society

From the editor 3

SPEPS news 3

Palm profile: Dwarf palmetto 5

A minor geography lesson 7

Discovery: Finding Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’

in northeastern Mexico 8

The most inland Sabal minor

in the southeastern U.S. 11 Possible Trachycarpus takil

planting in upland S.C. 12

Book review: Journeys Through Paradise 13

Backyard reports: Hardy palms in southern

Illinois 14

Rhapidophyllum, Fall 2001

From the editor

After a seemingly endless spring,

summer arrived in the southeastern

United States. Did anyone else think

that their subtropical plants got a late

start this year?

But the cool spring and mild sum-

mer brought frequent rainfalls that

finally broke three years of drought.

That’s meant less watering, but more

weeding and mowing. But given a

choice, I’m sure most of us would

take the rain. It’s pushed the palms,

cannas, ginger lilies and other plants

into some amazing growth this sea-

son.

It’s great to see SPEPS members

involved in activities that promote the

appreciation of hardy palms and in-

crease the demand for a wider selec-

tion of ornamental plant choices. The

Member’s Activities column was add-

ed last issue to give a little recognition

to your efforts. Don’t be shy about

letting me know what you’ve been up

to. Activities with public impact qual-

ify.

And don’t forget to occasionally

write about the successes and failures

in your own garden for the Backyard

Reports section. Your input helps

keep this journal happily balanced

between reference and personal expe-

rience.

—Jeff Stevens

SPEPS news Upcoming meetings

FALL—October 13, 2001, at the

gardens of Don and Belinda Cole-

man and Chuck and Barbara

Mooney near Waynesboro, Ga.

WINTER—February 16, 2002, at

the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gar-

den near Savannah, Ga.

SPRING—April 27, 2002, at the

Marietta, S.C., garden of Mike

Turner.

SUMMER—June 29, 2002, at the

garden and nursery of Gary Hollar

at New Bern, N.C.

FALL—October 12, 2002, at the

Stockbridge, Ga., garden of Bill

Manley.

Fall meeting The fall meeting will be held on Sat-

urday, Oct. 13, 2001, at the gardens of

two long-time SPEPS members in

Burke County, Ga.

The day will begin at 10:30 am at

the garden of Don and Belinda Cole-

man. Don serves as SPEPS vice presi-

dent, and the Coleman’s garden fea-

tures a wide selection of palms, an

impressive collection of cycads, and

bananas, eucalyptus and hardy citrus.

In the afternoon, we’ll proceed to

the garden of Chuck and Barbara

Mooney. Chuck has assembled an

amazing array of palms, many of

which are mature and fruiting. Nota-

ble specimens include an 8-foot Livis-

tona dicipiens, Butia × Syagrus,

Brahea clara, Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas,’

Butia eriospatha and B. yatay.

The day will include a brief busi-

ness meeting, including the election of

officers, and the annual plant sale.

Lunch includes a Low Country Boil,

courtesy of the Mooneys.

Depending on interest, an excur-

sion to the Ogeechee River (20 miles

away) to see native Rhapidophyllum

hystrix and Sabal minor is planned for

4:00 pm.

Directions: Both gardens are

located just south of Augusta, Ga. ►


To reach the Coleman’s garden

(where the meeting begins) take Inter-

state 20 to Exit 196 and turn south

onto Interstate 520. Continue for 7.5

miles and exit right onto to US 25

towards Waynesboro. Go about 6

miles to GA 88, turning right toward

Hephzibah. Take the first left after the

light, turning onto Brothersville Road.

Veer to the right in front of the high

school onto Story Mill Road. Follow

Story Mill Road about 9 miles, pass-

ing a fire station and golf course. The

house is on the left at 5270 Story Mill

Road at the intersection with Chris

Circle. Directions to the Mooney’s

will be given out at the meeting.

Accommodations: There is a

Holiday Inn Express and Jameson Inn

Eric Schmidt explains how difficult it is to grow the tender coconut palm

(Cocos nucifera) in Orlando’s Zone 9 climate. Some challenges —

and frustrations — are universal.

at Waynesboro, and Augusta, 30

minutes to the north, has many over-

night accommodations.

Summer meeting report Fifteen SPEPS members braved the

southbound weekend traffic to attend

the summer meeting at the Harry P.

Leu Gardens in Orlando, Fla. Eric

Schmidt, the palm collection curator,

gave a tour of the collection, with

pauses for tropical flowering plants,

tropical conifers and the xeric collec-

tion.

After a quick lunch, the group

headed east of the city to Bobbick’s

Nursery, arriving during a heavy

downpour. (The Orlando airport rec-

orded five inches of rain that after-

noon.) continued on page 14

The SPEPS group (minus photogra-pher) poses under the silvery Bismark

palm (Bismarkia nobilis) at the Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando.

Photo by Tom McClendon.


pens) because S. minor has no spines

on the leaf petiole.

The western form, S. minor var.

louisiana, resembles S. minor but

eventually forms a squat trunk. There

are several growing in the Mississippi

River delta below New Orleans with

trunks as high as 10 feet (3 meters).

Size The usual size is four to five feet (1.5

meters) high and wide. Growth rate is

slow to moderate. S. minor var. Loui-

siana eventually forms a short trunk,

usually remaining under five feet.

Most plants have between five and ten

green leaves at a given time, giving

the palm an open look that lends itself

to underplanting with shorter annuals

or perennials. The inflorescences pro-

ject beyond the leaves. ►

P A L M P R O F I L E

Dwarf palmetto Sabal minor and

S. minor var. louisiana

Sabal is probably derived from a

Native American name and minor

is Latin for lesser or smaller.

Description The dwarf palmetto is sometimes de-

scribed as clumping, but in fact has

only one trunk, which is either very

short or entirely below ground. The

leaves are slightly costapalmate in

shape and vary from green to blue-

green in color, with usually no more

than a half-dozen on a single plant.

They differ from the leaves of

other native dwarf palms by having a

split “V” right in the middle, which

looks a little like the Vulcan salute

from Star Trek. Easily distinguished

from the saw palmetto (Serenoa re-

This Sabal minor var. louisiana was planted from a 3-gallon pot last sum-mer and is about half its mature size.

Range Sabal minor is the most far-ranging

native palm, growing from North Car-

olina west to Dallas, Texas. It’s the

only native palm to grow any distance

north of the Fall Line, and populations

can be found up the Savannah River

to Elberton, Ga., up the Coosa River

to Center, Ala., and into McCurtain

County in southeastern Oklahoma. In

the east, it ranges from southern Flori-

da up to Dare County, N.C.

One unverifiable reference from

the 19th century mentions it growing

in the Mississippi Valley at the south-

ern tip of Missouri, but there have

been no modern sightings there and

it’s habitat would have long been

cleared and drained for agriculture.

S. minor var. louisiana is found in

Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

These populations apparently exist

alongside the standard S. minor.

There is also a population of mys-

tery sabal palms in Brazoria County,

Texas, that form quite tall trunks to 28

feet (8 meters). They have been vari-

ously described as S. minor, S. minor

var. louisiana, and as a hybrid be-

tween S. minor and S. mexicana called

S. × texensis.

Habitat Sabal minor is native to low, swampy

areas with seasonal flooding along

major rivers and their tributaries.

While tolerant of winter flooding, it

apparently needs a drier environment

during the growing season, and is not

found in areas that stand under perma-

nent water.

S. minor var. louisiana is found in

the same habitat as S. minor and in

floodplains.

Cold hardiness

Zone 7a. Hardy throughout most of

the southeastern United States, but not

quite as hardy as the needle palm

(Rhapidophyllum hystrix).

Established plants will take short

spells of subzero weather, though

some leaf damage may occur if tem-

peratures go much below 10F (-12C).

S. minor is reputed to be slightly har-

dier than S. minor var. louisiana. Like

the needle palm, not really bothered

by cold, wet winters. Wild specimens

are often under shallow water during

the winter months.

Culture Dwarf palmettos prefer a moist, sunny

location. The bank of a creek or lake

is an ideal situation.

Although they are native to areas

with a high water table, this doesn’t

necessarily mean that they prefer this

environment. It may only mean that

the species inhabits this niche because

there is less competition. In fact, like

several bottomland species (bald cy-

press, for example), Sabal minor

grows very well in an upland environ-

ment and is fairly tolerant of drought

once established.

These palms will also tolerate a

fair amount of shade, but growth and

blue color will be best in full sun. Any

soil with adequate moisture is fine.

They only thrive in areas with hot,

humid summer weather and tolerate

some salt spray.

Landscape use Probably best in groups, but can also

be effective as a single specimen.

There is a truly beautiful planting of

dwarf palmettos around the central

fountain at Brookgreen Gardens, just

south of Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Notes



Old plants develop an underground

trunk and deep root system that makes

them difficult to move, a useful fact to

remember before planting. Even small

wild-grown plants have extremely

deep roots that usually make them not

worth the trouble of moving. Easily

grown from seed.

This palm has an image problem

that results from its confusion with the

saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). Un-

like the saw palmetto, the dwarf pal-

metto does not have spiny leaf stems,

has much larger leaves, and does not

spread over a large area.

Related species Another as-of-yet unnamed dwarf palmetto has recently been discovered

in the mountains in the state of Ta-

maulipas, Mexico. Informally called

Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas,’ it’s currently

being grown by several SPEPS mem-

bers.

Its leaves are somewhat thicker

and more costapalmate than those of

S. minor, and the blue color of its

leaves is especially attractive. Cold

hardiness is still under evaluation, but

should be roughly the same as for the

other dwarf palmettos.

Adapted from The Palm Reader, by

Joe LeVert, Tom McClendon and Will

Roberds. ■

A minor geography lesson

by Tom McClendon,

SPEPS president, Siloam, Ga.

A heated discussion among hardy

palm enthusiasts can often be trig-

gered by asking how many Sabal spe-

cies there really are. Many want to

grow as many species as possible, and

for this reason often prefer to think of

Sabal minor var. louisiana as a sepa-

rate species. But taxonomists don’t

recognize S. minor var. louisiana as a

species, and many are likely to lump

several oddball Sabal variants togeth-

er that may or may not have specific

characteristics of merit.

Most palm enthusiasts aren’t tax-

onomists, and their interest lies in a

plant’s appearance. And while it’s

true that most palms affiliated with

Sabal minor are similar in appearance

(as are all Sabal species to some de-

gree), there are enough differences to

make individual populations horticul-

turally interesting. In fact, just about

every local population of S. minor is

unique in some way.

Below are a few of the S. minor

variants. We’ll leave it up to you —

and maybe the taxonomists — to de-

cide if they’re separate species.

Sabal minor ‘Blountstown’ Apparently a true genetic dwarf from

the Apalachicola River valley of Flor-

ida, this palm matures at a mere 18

inches (0.5 meters) in height.

Sabal minor ‘Hatteras’ Most trunking dwarf palmettos hail

from the westernmost part of their

range. This population, found on the

Outer Banks of North Carolina, is

extremely robust and there are many

individuals with 4- to 5-foot (1.5 me-

ter) trunks. Leaf color is a striking

powder blue.

Sabal minor ‘Texas Hill Country’ Defying all reason, this dwarf palmet-

to grows in a xeric habitat at an ►

elevation of 2,000 feet with cactus and

yuccas. When in cultivation, it grows

a trunk much like S. minor var. louisi-

ana. Since most botanists “don’t do”

palms, its exact taxonomic status re-

mains a mystery.

Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ An article in Palms, the journal of the

International Palm Society, identified

this as a disjunct population of Sabal

minor — which it may be. But its

leaves are larger, thicker and more

heavily costapalmate. It blooms earli-

er than any other Sabal species under

Southeastern conditions. Its seeds are

twice the side of S. minor seed, and

seedlings can grow to twice the size of

S. minor seedlings in the same amount

of time.

Sabal ‘× texensis’

The famed Brazoria palm from Texas.

If it’s Sabal minor, it represents the

opposite extreme of the genetic bell

curve from the Blountstown variety

because some individuals of Brazoria

palm have trunks more than 25 feet (8

meters) in height. Researchers have

proposed that this palm is a natural

hybrid between S. minor and S. mexi-

cana, and variations in leaf type and

trunking habit support this. It seems to

be a little less hardy than S. minor and

needs further hardiness testing. At any

rate, the Brazoria palm will be a rare

and beautiful addition to your palm

collection. ■


D I S C O V E R Y

Finding Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ in north-eastern Mexico

by Carl Max Schoenfeld,

owner of YuccaDo Nursery,

Hempstead, Texas

While traveling in northeastern Mexi-

co in 1988, we noticed an isolated

colony of Sabal mexicana (Texas pal-

metto) guarding a remote gravel road.

We were driving south in what

amounted to a saddle. Over the foot-

hills to our east was the small town of

Villa Mainero, in western Tamaulipas.

To our west abruptly rose the sierra

that divides the humid lowlands from

Seed of Sabal sp. ’Tamaulipas’ with smaller S. minor seed, shown at about

one-half actual size.

A mature planting of Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ at Peckerwood Gardens,

Hempstead, Texas.


the cool and dry highlands. These

foothills, rising to 3,000 feet, create

the environment that starts the transi-

tional zone. The 7,000-foot elevation

of the Sierra Madre Oriental in this

area guarantees the rainfall necessary

to achieve a unique flora.

Curiously, as we drove on we

noticed that there were no smaller

palms under the statuesque 40-foot

trees, or along the dry stream that runs

up the valley from south to north.

Continuing south, the tall S. mexi-

cana gave way to an understory of

smaller, trunkless Sabal palms grow-

ing in the shade of 20- to 30-foot oaks,

mostly Quercus canbyi (Canby oak)

and Q. risophylla (loquat-leaved oak).

This area is about 1,500 feet in eleva-

tion and receives 30 to 40 inches of

rain per year. In places where geolog-

ic uplift forms miniature mountains of

pure shale, Dioon edule var. angustifo-

lia (chamal) dominates.

Farther on we came upon a clear

stream that abruptly turned and dove

east through the solid folds of rock that

form the foothills. The trunkless palms

were numerous in this area and no trunk

-forming specimens could be found.

At first, we thought the smaller

palms were seedlings of S. mexicana.

But late one summer afternoon several

years later we found them in seed. The

narrow flower spikes held large seeds

and extended up and beyond the broad

blue-green leaves. The seeds were very

large and flat like M&M candies, but

were colored a rich mahogany.

We went back to inspect the large

S. mexicana for seed and found that

their old flowering branches were a ►

Sabal mexicana (Texas palmetto) guards the entrance to the unique habitat where Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ was discovered. Photo by the author.

many-branched panicle held within

the foliage. They also actually hung

below the leaf base, quite different

from our smaller palm. Could it be a

different species or were they just

juvenile S. mexicana that were flower-

ing prematurely?

We gathered seed from the trunk-

less sabal palms and planted them.

They germinated quickly and we of-

fered them in our catalogue in the fall

of 1990 as Sabal sp. ‘Tamauli-pas,’

collection T17-55. We affectionately

referred to our new palm as the

“Mexican minor.” (We’d previously

grown S. minor, which is considerably

slower to grow and mature than Sabal

sp. ‘Tamaulipas.’)

Hardiness reports later came in

showing that it was proving adaptable

in Anniston, Ala., Atlanta and Augus-

ta, Ga., and Raleigh, N.C., with no

damage near 0F (-18C) in Zone 7b.

Customers in Europe reported their

success as well, but we are waiting to

confirm these reports.

A few years later we found our

way through the maze of roads that

leads up the Rio Purificacíon into the

Sierra Madre Oriental, 50 miles south

of the original discovery site. This

region is backed by several mountains

reaching to over 9,000 feet, so as you

can imagine, the entry into this can-

yon was dramatic.

This area receives twice the rain-

fall as the northern site. Driving up

the very steep road was further com-

plicated by small streams of water

flowing down its gravel surface.

As you are being tossed from side

to side you catch glimpses of bright

red berries in the shade of subtropical

shrubbery. Chamaedorea radicalis

makes its northernmost appearance


here in the deep protected canyon.

The limestone ridges and cliffs are

covered with Brahea dulcis (rock

palm), while the dense forest below is

comprised of Pinus pseudostrobus

(Mexican white pine), Quercus poly-

morpha (Monterey white oak) and

Q. risophylla. All rise to 80 feet or

more due to the generous rainfall.

Driving through this lush temper-

ate forest to about 3,000 feet in eleva-

tion, we came upon ancient specimens

of Sabal mexicana towering into the

canopy. We saw and heard pileated

woodpeckers in the distance.

Here and there we could find

every size of S. mexicana imaginable.

Some had short trunks and others had

no trunks but they were identifiable

because of the size of their leaves and

petiole length.

After carefully looking the young

palms over, here and there we could

spot the same smaller sabal palm we'd

previously found to the north. Where

the road cut through the forest a few

specimens revealed an interesting

feature. Their trunk ran horizontally

along the ground, while similar-sized

S. mexicana plunged their taproot

deep in the ground and grew upward.

In another area further up the

road we found one of the small Sabal

palms running off of a limestone

bluff. It became apparent that this

palm runs on the ground, while its

relative, S. mexicana, stays put and

forms a permanent root run.

Very old specimens of Sabal sp.

‘Tamaulipas’ could be traced back

over four feet of horizontal trunk to

where the plant originated. These old

trunks die and wear away with time

and new roots form at the crown’s

moveable base, somewhat like the


habit of Serenoa repens, the saw pal-

metto.

Despite its remote origin, the

Mexican minor is here to stay. Our

original plants are now seven feet tall

and are producing viable seed.

Though this palm’s life cycle has

gone full course here in 15 years, its

identity is still a mystery! ■

The most inland Sabal minor in the southeastern United States

by Jeff Stevens, Apison, Tenn.

On a dreary, drizzley December day

last winter, Gene Cooper, Hayes Jack-

son and I explored several low-lying

areas along the Coosa River in north-

eastern Alabama.

We wanted to see for ourselves

what were reported to be the South-

east’s most inland native dwarf pal-

mettos (Sabal minor). Another power-

ful motivation for the excursion was

the chance to spend the day outdoors

in the rain with the temperature never

rising above 37F (3C).

Winter is a great time for spotting

evergreen plants, and we hoped that

the palms would be easy to pick out in

the woods. Hayes had heard of a num-

ber of sites in Etowah and Cherokee

Counties with native S. minor, and we

searched two of them.

The upper valley of the Coosa is

a like finger of the Gulf Coastal Plain

pointing northeast into the lower Ap-

palachians about 80 miles northeast of

Birmingham. The valley sits at 550

feet above sea level, but is literally in

the shadow of Lookout Mountain, and

not far from Alabama’s only ski re-

sort. (Where I understand that not

much skiing has taken place during

recent winters.)

Coastal Plain species such as

swamp bayberry (Myrica heterophyl-

la), Carolina jessamine (Gelsem-ium

sempervirens), yaupon (Ilex vomito-

ria) and large specimens of evergreen

sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana var.

australis) are locally abundant. One

local resident introduced alligators

into Ballplay Swamp a few years ago,

and they survive to this day.

The first site we searched, along

the banks of the Coosa in Cherokee

County, turned up nothing. We drove

west into Ballplay Swamp, and before

long, Gene spotted several small palms

continued on page 15

Three Alabama natives: Hayes Jackson and Gene Cooper with a

small Sabal minor.


Possible Trachycarpus takil planting in upland South Carolina

By Marc Caramuta, Waxhaw, N.C.

In the summer of 1996, six Trachy-

carpus were planted in the northern

Piedmont of South Carolina. The

freeze of early 1996 had killed six

5-gallon T. fortunei at the same loca-

tion.

The new palms looked like little

windmill palms for a while. Then they

began to grow fast and got more ro-

bust in appearance. For the past few

years I’d written them off as just larg-

er, stouter versions of the stiff-leaved

form of T. fortunei.

I recently stopped by for a look

and immediately realized that they are

likely T. takil. Each leaf has a distinct-

ly large and twisted hastula. They’re

are also very stiff and leathery and

feel like palmetto leaves.

I counted about 50 segments on

one leaf. Many segments are actually

in the twisted area of the leaf and

quite small. The picture above gives

an idea of the scale of the leaves. The

lower picture shows the trunk with my

11-year-old son's hand on it for refer-

ence. I also noticed wooly tan-colored

tomentum on the bases of the younger

petioles.

These palms are planted on an

exposed hilltop and are buffeted by

winter winds where Agave americana

have been killed the last two winters.

Despite two winters with lows around

10F (-12C) and lots of ice last year,

the palms still have beautiful leaves

all the way to the ground.

Though they offer every indica-

tion of being true T. takil, there’s no

guarantee that they’re not a hybrid

that favors T. takil.

But having six plants with the

same characteristics, the odds are that

differing hybrid characteristics would

show up among the group. Expert

opinion is required to determine the

species with certainty.

The landscaper who planted

these Trachycarpus likes palms and

purchased them from a nursery in the

Raleigh, N.C., area that I was never

able to locate. ■


B O O K R E V I E W

Journeys Through Paradise: Pioneering Naturalists in the Southeast

Gail Fishman. University Press of Flor-ida, Gainesville, Fla. 2000. 307 pages, 23 photographs, 3 maps. 6” x 9.5”. Publisher’s price, hardcover: $24.95.

“Twenty-four years after Columbus

bumped into the New World, Juan

Ponce de León ground his longboats

against the sandy beaches of a recum-

bent land.” Thus begins Journeys

Through Paradise, which

might have been subtitled,

Time Travel Through the

Southeast, 1516–2000.

In it, author Gail

Fishman, an experienced

conservationist who lives

in Tallahassee, profiles 13

men who explored the

wilderness of southeastern

North America and docu-

mented its natural history.

They wandered the

new English and Spanish

colonies, some funded by the kings of

England and France, or later, by the

United States. But many were on their

own, traveling with little more to fuel

them than their curiosity and the hope

of having their work published.

Often using the explorers’ own

words, Fishman follows their steps

from the peaks of the southern Appa-

lachians to the Florida Keys. One bot-

anist drove hungry alligators from his

camp. Another, who had earlier been

robbed and beaten in Afghanistan and

had then calmly resumed his plant

collecting, confessed that while look-

ing for the source of the Tennessee

River, he was “continually in dread of

stepping on snakes.”

Some chapter titles bear familiar

names such as John and William Bar-

tram, John James Audubon and John

Muir. They left a legacy of impressive

writings, paintings and conservation.

But one of the book’s strengths is in

rescuing the memory of lesser-known

men whose contributions weren’t as

well publicized, but whose lives and

adventures were just as interesting.

Here is André Michaux discover-

ing the bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia

macrophylla) and dodging interna-

tional intrigue, Hardy

Bryan Croom finding the

stinking cedar (Torreya

taxifolia), and Dr. Alvan

W. Chapman, discoverer

of Rhododendron chap-

manii, trying to keep his

balance as a Unionist

living in the South during

the Civil War.

But these stories

are more than an enter-

taining travelogue. The

book’s gentle conserva-

tion theme is underlined by the au-

thor’s account of how she personally

retraced the footsteps of the men she

profiles, many of whom urged the

protection of wild places from the be-

ginning.

The endless Southeastern forests,

once home to the ivory-billed wood-

pecker and Carolina paroquet, are

gone. But recent conservation efforts

would certainly cheer the early natu-

ralists. To find out more about one

organization’s efforts, visit The Na-

ture Conservancy at www.nature.org.


weeks and some of our daytime highs

were 10F to 15F (-12C to -9C). We had

four mornings that got down to 0F

(-18C).

All the leaves on the Trachycar-

pus that weren’t covered by hay or

five to six inches of snow were lost.

Same story for the Sabal minor. Al-

most all the needle palm leaves were

above the hay and snow and the

leaves stayed green during the long

cold spell, but after the cold spell

some of the leaves showed half to

three-quarters damage inward from

the tips of the leaflets. But most of the

leaves had only some injury and all of

the palms are growing well now. ■

B A C K Y A R D R E P O R T S

Hardy palms in south-ern Illinois

John Abba West Frankfort, Ill., Zone 6a/b

I live on five acres between West

Frankfort and Johnston City in south-

ern Illinois. About 20 miles south of

West Frankfort we have hills that rise

to 1,065 feet above sea level and they

give you a feeling that you are in the

mountains, but my place is about 435

feet above sea level.

I planted my first needle palm

(Rhapidophyllum hystrix) from Plant

Delights in 1996. In 1997 I added

another needle palm, a dwarf palmetto

(Sabal minor) and three windmill

palms (Trachycarpus fortunei). In

1998 I added three more needle palms

and in 1999 another needle, another

dwarf palmetto, another windmill, two

Trachycarpus takil and four S. minor

from McCurtain County, Okla. This

spring I planted four more S. minor

from McCurtain and two more

T. takil.

Only five of these palms are

planted near the southeast side of the

house and porch with some wind pro-

tection. All the rest are 10 to 20 feet

south and southwest of the house with

no wind protection.

Each year I put up to two feet of

hay around each palm in late Novem-

ber. They have all survived so far, but

we’ve had mild winters with short

cold spells, and lows of 0F to 10F

(-18C to -12C).

But this past winter it stayed be-

low freezing for three-and-a-half

SPEPS news Summer meeting report continued from page 4

Bob and Marita Bobbick greeted

their soaked visitors with towels for

drying off. When the rain stopped,

they gave a tour of their five-acre

palm garden and nursery, which is

protected by an open forest of sand

live oaks (Quercus geminata). Many

left with a carload of hard-to-find

palms.

A visit to Cycad Jungle in Polk

City, Fla., was available for those who

stayed through Sunday.

Member’s activities The garden of Austin and Tina

Brown in North Augusta, Ga., was

featured in the Augusta Chronicle in

August. Photographs of the Browns

and their garden and macaw illustrat-

ed the article, which was titled

“Tropical Dreams.”

Tony Cerbone of Dallas spoke to

groups at North Haven Gardens in


June and September about growing

cold-hardy palms in the Dallas area.

Everyone who attended was offered a

seedling of Sabal minor var. louisi-

ana, the dwarf palmetto.

The Raleigh, N.C., garden of Ed

Sessoms and Bill DeMent was fea-

tured in the August issue of Carolina

Gardener. The article, called “Into the

Jungle: Bold Foliage for a Tropical

Look,” mentioned palms, elephant

ears, bananas, gingers and other hardy

subtropicals, and included many pho-

tographs.

Ed and Bill’s garden was also the

subject of Erica Glasener’s HGTV

Gardener’s Diary in April. Those

wishing to catch a rebroadcast of the

program should look for episode GRD

613, “Rare and Unusual Plants.”

Jeff Stevens of Apison, Tenn.,

introduced the Hamilton County

(Tenn.) Master Gardeners to hardy

palms with a slide presentation featur-

ing long-established palms in the

Chattanooga and Sparta areas. A nee-

dle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) was

given away as a door prize.

“The next time you want to expe-

rience the tropics, you may want to

head to Athens, Tenn.,” began a

WBIR-TV story on Will Taylor’s

garden. Will gave advice on the win-

ter protection of subtropicals. The

Knoxville station aired the story in

August and displayed a print version

on its website at www.wbir.com. ■

Sources

YuccaDo will offer Sabal sp. ‘Tamaulipas’ in their 2002 catalog. They also offer a dwarf palmetto from a northeastern Mexico popula-tion, listed as Sabal aff. minor.

YuccaDo P.O. Box 907 Hempstead, TX 77445 (979) 826-4580

Web site: www.yuccado.com E-mail: [email protected] And here’s a sources for Guihaia argyrata, the Asian or Chinese needle palm, profiled in the sum-mer issue of Rhapidophyllum.

Gerry’s Jungle 730 Stallsworth Road McDonough GA 30252 (770) 957-9099

Web site: www.neotropic.com E-mail: [email protected]

DISCOVERY Inland Sabal minor

continued from page 11

in the woods along the road in Etowah

County. There was no sign of seed, or

of any larger palms nearby, so we

guessed they’d grown there from seed

deposited by birds.

A hunter we spoke to directed us

to a trail across the road and described

some larger, fruiting palms a half-

hour’s hike away. Not far down the

trail we entered an area heavily dam-

aged by a recent tornado and spent a

lot of time climbing over toppled

trees. We finally reached Ballplay

Creek, and after several hours of

searching, we hiked back out, never

having found the fruiting palms.

The few dwarf palmettos by the

roadside would have to do for that

day. We hope to return again to search

that site and others to find the mature

plants and collect seed for propaga-

tion. But maybe on a warmer day. ■

Angel’s trumpets

(Brugmansia spp.)

are loud only to

the eye.

What a desolate place would be

a world without flowers!

It would be a face without a smile,

a feast without welcome.

Are not flowers the stars of the earth?

Are not our stars the flowers of heaven?

—Clara L. Balfour, British author, 1808–1878

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