Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Walking Around The Homestead: Cabbage Palm



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Walking to the pond will take us through a grove of these sabal palms. Around here, they are called cabbage palms since the bud of this palm is used to make a dish called "swamp cabbage". This dish doesn't really taste that great and it requires the death of the palm, so we don't eat it on our little farm.

This is one cold hardy palm. It grows all the way up to the Carolina's. The trunk pattern is formed from the frond connections. Some of these palms will drop the old frond bases and have a smooth trunk, while others will keep them firmly attached. It's a genetic thing I guess. (boy that was scientific)

The berries are eaten by birds, the fronds offer superb hiding places for bats, lizards, bugs, etc. It's an all round great plant and I encourage them wherever I find them.

If we keep walking, we'll come to it's cousin the saw palmetto...
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree a man in our hunting club in Bunnell would kill a few palms to make "swamp cabbage" that wasn't tasty at all.Like chewing on a soft palmetto chute with salt and pepper

R.Powers said...

10-4, not worth the tree.