Description
Botanical Name: Serenoa repens ‘Silver’
Common Name: Silver Saw Palmetto, Gray Saw Palmetto
Description: Florida native evergreen palmetto with great cold hardiness. Slow growing to 6-8′ tall and wide. Beautiful silvery-gray cast to the fronds. The stems and trunks often grow horizontally along the ground. Silver saw palmetto palms produce fragrant, yellowy-white flowers in the spring followed by berry-like fruit, which ripens into a blue-black color. Sun to part sun. Deer resistant. Drought tolerant once established. The fruit is an important food source for mammals and birds. An extract of the berries is popular in western herbal medicine where it is used to treat prostate and urinary tract problems. The flowers are highly attractive to bees and are a great source of good-quality honey. Can grow in the ground or in large containers. Host plant for palmetto skipper and monk butterflies.
More than 100 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles, and countless insects use it as food and/or cover.
Tolerant of occasional/brief inundation such as can occur in storm surges. Moderately tolerant of salty wind and may get some salt spray.
This plant in 3-gallon containers is 1-2′ tall.
This plant in 7-gallon containers is 2-3′ tall.
This plant in 15-gallon containers is 3-4′ tall.
Plant Lore: The “saw” in the name refers to the saw-like teeth on the petioles (leaf stems).
Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 11
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