THE TEXAS PALMETTO 



A Distinct and Valuable Species Which Has Been Destroyed So Rapidly That It 

 Now Exists in Only One Grove— Desirable to Preserve It for 



Future Planting 



IT IS not generally known that the 

 largest palmetto palms in the United 

 States are not in Florida or other 

 Atlantic Coast States, but in 

 southern Texas. The Texas palmettoes 

 do not belong to the same botanical 

 species as the Florida palms, but are 

 quite distinct in general appearance 

 as well as in botanical characters. 

 The trunk is much more robust, the 

 leaves are larger, the leaf segments are 

 broader, and of firmer texture. The 

 fruit has a sweet edible flesh surrounding 

 the seed, like the fruit of the date palm. 

 The only natiu^al grove of this inter- 

 esting tree that now exists in the United 

 States, or that is known to exist any- 

 where, is on the banks of the Rio 

 Grande near Brownsville. Accounts of 

 early settlers in the coast districts of 

 South Texas indicate that the native 

 palmetto extended in former years much 

 farther north, where now only a few 

 scattered individuals remain. 



Botanists at first supposed that the 

 Texas palmettoes were the same as the 

 Mexican palmetto {Sabal mexicana), 

 but afterward this was found to be a 

 mistake and in 1901 the Texas palmetto 

 was recognized by O. F. Cook as a 

 distinct species, under the name I nodes 

 texana. In addition to other differences, 

 the Texas palmetto is a very much 

 larger palm than the species to which 

 the name mexicana properly belongs. 



The Texas palmetto is also entirely 

 distinct from the small, low-growing 

 "scrub-palm ettoes" of the river bottom 

 forests of East Texas. These plants 

 have only a few leaves, borne on slender 

 subterranean or creeping stems, whereas 

 the Texas palmetto is not only a truly 

 arboreal palm, but is one of the most 

 imposing of all the palms that are able 

 to live outside the Tropics. 



FEW HARDY PALMS 



The entire palm flora of the world 

 affords only a few hardy species that 



attain the proportions of trees and are 

 suitable for planting in the warmer 

 parts of the United States. The Texas 

 palmetto represents an important addi- 

 tion to the series of hardy pahns. It 

 has been supposed that the Washingtonia 

 pahns of California are the hardiest of 

 all, but the Texas palmetto is even more 

 resistant to cold Washingtonia palms 

 have grown to maturity in several of 

 the parks at San Antonio, Tex., but the 

 leaves are often killed in cold weather 

 that has no effect upon the leaves of 

 Texas palmettoes standing in the same 

 parks. Now that South Texas is occu- 

 pied by a permanent and rapidly increas- 

 ing agric\iltural and urban population, 

 the time must soon come when the value 

 and interest of a native palm, fully 

 adapted to the South Texas conditions, 

 will be highly appreciated. The preser- 

 vation of the grove at Brownsville is 

 necessar}^ in order to insure an adequate 

 supply of seed for general planting. 



The prospective value of the Texas 

 palmetto for ornamental planting in 

 streets, parks and private grounds would 

 amply justify the effort that is necessary 

 to keep it from extinction. Palms are 

 likely to have a special value in South 

 Texas because plants of this family, 

 like their relatives the grasses, appear 

 to be immune to the root -rot fungus, 

 which often destroys fruit and orna- 

 mental trees of other families. 



The single remaining grove of the 

 Texas palmetto, preserved in its original 

 beauty, is situated 7 miles from the 

 city of Brownsville in a location shel- 

 tered from the northers in a picturesque 

 bend of the Rio Grande, which makes it 

 still possible to perpetuate for coming 

 generations this remarkable palm and 

 the landscape scenery which its stately 

 forms produce. This unique grove of 

 palms is the property of Frank Rabb, 

 of Brownsville, for some time collector 

 of customs there. 



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