p CABBAGE PALMETTO; CABBAGE TREE (Sabal Palmetto, R. * 



& S.). 20 to 40 feet. Stout trunk crowned with leaves that 

 form a round head. Bark broken into irregular plates by 

 shallow fissures. Wood light, soft, pale brown, with hard, 

 tough, fibro- vascular bundles; rind thick, of lighter, more por- 

 ous texture than the heart wood. Leaves 5 to 6 feet long, 7 to 

 8 feet broad, on stems 6 to 7 feet long, and \\ inches wide at 

 apex. Petiole widening to base, hollowed to fit stem, split 

 by the enlargement of the trunk, around which they are 

 sheathed in an interlaced pattern like basketwork. Leaf 

 blades of many narrow, pointed segments, split apart below 

 the middle of the blade, folded double, frayed out in threads 

 toward tip. New leaves constantly developed from the cen- 

 tral bud of the stem, and oldest ones become pendant and die, 

 leaving the trunk smooth, by the detachment of the split 

 petiole bases. Flowers in June, on branched stalk 2 to 2^ feet 

 long, from sheath of protecting scales, set in axils of leaves. 

 Individual flowers perfect, tubular, crowded on branches of 

 the stalk. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit few, globular, dark-colored, 

 3-lobed, dry-fleshed, sweet berries, in early fall; seeds soli- 

 tary, brown, almost as large as the pea-sized berry. Dist.: 

 Sandy soil near coast from North Carolina to the Florida 

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