78 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



PALMAE (i)i- ARECACEAE). Palm Family 



About 1,000 species, in tropical and warm-temperate regions, 

 all more or less woody, with large stiff evergreen leaves; and 

 many of them are tall unbranched trees. Most of the palms are 

 ornamental, and many yield building materials, fiber, oil, food or 

 medicine. 



SABAL, Adanson. The Palmettoes. 



Sabal minor, Jacq. (S. glabra (Mill.) Sarg. ; S. Adansonii, 

 Guerns.) (Dwarf, or swamp) Palmetto. 



(Map 11) 



Our commonest and most widely distributed palm, with 

 smooth fan-like leaves sometimes four or five feet tall ; blooming 

 in June and July. Very little use is made of it in Alabama, ex- 

 cept that the leaves have been shipped from Evergreen for deco- 

 rative purposes, along with other evergreens. They could also be 

 used for fans, and woven into hats, baskets, etc. The leaves are 

 often nibbled by cattle, especially when young. 



Grows normally in muddy swamps, but also common in low 

 calcareous pastures in the black belt and near-by regions. Almost 

 confined to the coastal plain. 



5. Rare on Tallapoosa River a few miles above Tallassee, with Taxo- 

 diiiiii disiichnm, Tillandsia usneoides, etc. Said to have formerly occurred 

 on the Coosa County side of the Coosa River a little above "Lock 12", but 

 submerged by the big dam there about 1914.* 



6A. Bottoms of Big Sanay Creek near Duncanville, Tuscaloosa 

 County. 



6C. Near Aliceville, Akron and Burnsville. 



7. Frequent, often in pastures as above stated. 



8. Bottoms of Pine Barren Creek, Wilcox County. 

 lOE. Along rivers near Newton and Elba. 



low. Choctaw, Marengo, Clarke and Conecuh Counties. 

 IL Choctaw, Washington, Clarke and Conecuh Counties. 



12. Near Geneva and Gordon. 



13. Along Conecuh River east of Brewton. 



14. Common, at least in the lower part. L. C. Johnson, on page 696 

 of the Alabama coastal plain report (1895) describes a large "palmetto 

 brake" in Baldwin Counts-, which must be in the delta, though he does not 

 specify the locality. 



15. Near Coden, Bon Secour and Orange Beach. 



*See Torreva 14:155. 1914. 



