Palmae. 29 
Sabal palmetto. One fairly good specimen can be seen in the 
Capitol grounds. 
Sabal Palmetto Lodd. 
Palmetto Palm. 
Plate XII. 
The genuine Palmetto reaches a height of sixty feet in its native 
home, begins flowering rather early, and has the trunk clothed with 
the old fronds, the petiole of which, especially the broad base, is 
divided into two divaricating parts. The leaves are suborbicular and 
have many segments (about eighty). The spadix forms large panicles 
which are drooping when in flower and are reflex-curved when in 
fruit. The fruits are perfectly spherical, slightly less than half an 
inch in diameter; the seeds are globose-depressed and hemispherical 
in the upper part. 
The Palmetto is widely diffused over the United States extending 
from North Carolina to Florida. It is cultivated in Europe and 
other subtropical countries. In Honolulu it is much more common 
than Sabal Blackburmana. The specimen here illustrated occurs on 
the grounds of the Queen Emma home on Nuuanu Avenue. Others 
may be found on Beretania Street and King Street in various resi- 
dential) grounds, the Government Nursery and in the Punahou 
grounds along the stone wall facing Manoa road. The Palmetto is 
a useful palm. The young leaf-shoots in the center of the palm are 
edible and it is probably this species of which Martius writes that the 
soldiers of Panfllio di Narvaez kept alive upon for fourteen days 
during an exploration of Florida in the year 1528. 
The young leaves are employed in hat making, being first bleached 
in a solution of oxalic acid and exposed to sulphur vapors. A wine 
is obtained from this palm and the fruits are eaten by the natives 
as well as by the birds, the latter being probably responsible for 
the wide geographical distribution of the tree. 
This palm is grown and reproduced very easily and does excep- 
tionally well in swampy ground. A small stemless Sabal is also under 
cultivation in Honolulu. It is known scientifically as Sabal Adansoni 
Guerns., and has an underground rhyzome and only few fronds. 
Mature specimens may be seen at Haleiwa in the hotel grounds, 
and on Mrs. Jaeger's premises on King Street, to the left of the 
entrance. It is a native of the United States, extending from. North 
Carolina to Florida, Arkansas and Texas where it inhabits inundated 
regions and can also be encountered near the sea. Many forms of 
