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View Full Version : FL plant peeps--What are those rugged plants that resemble saw palmetto


Kat2
03-04-2017, 09:42 PM
but aren't? And they're impossible to kill? They seem to pop up everywhere. It's too dark to take specimen pics but I will tomorrow if nobody knows what I mean. I patrol carefully and pull many seedlings now but these got established before I was on the prowl and I need them gone. How?

BTW, I still find a few air potatoes on my lot which I gather and freeze then toss. Since I no longer have vines, I'm mystified at where they come from. I'm enough of a conspiracy/tin foil hat gal to imagine that the many Cuban frogs I've yet to catch are carting them in at night whilst riding on the backs of armadillos--laughing manically about my efforts to secure my yard as a sanctuary for FL natives. Criminy! I just found out there are moles in FL...no dandelions but everything else the north "offered" and more...tilting at windmills I am.

Kegas76
03-07-2017, 01:00 PM
If it resembles a Saw but isn't then it might be a Scrub Palmetto Spotting the Difference: Saw vs Scrub Palmetto (https://sufieldbio.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/spotting-the-difference-saw-vs-scrub-palmetto/)

Then again I can never tell any of them apart. Could be a dwarf palmetto for all I know:ha:

Here is a broader list of Florida Native Palms (http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Florida_Native_Palms.pdf) (PDF 15 MB)

Kat2
03-07-2017, 09:39 PM
Thank you so very much! I've asked many Floridians; they were no help. How best to kill them? I have a large one in my yard and will let it be but only that one; the progeny have to go.

Kegas76
03-07-2017, 10:56 PM
"Sabal etonia Swingle ex Nash., scrub palmetto, bush palmetto, bluestem, or corkscrew palmetto has a solitary underground (rarely aboveground to 1 meter) spiral-shaped trunk and 4–7 yellow-green leaves with a prominent costa and filaments between leaf segments "

So my guess would be you need to damage them below the surface. If its stand alone plants dig down deep an pull them up. If its seedlings (or pups) near a bigger one maybe give it a couple stabs with whatever you use to separate banana pups.

Sabal etonia - Palmpedia - Palm Grower's Guide (http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/Sabal_etonia)
"Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water."

Maybe drown it with brine?

The Best Way to Get Rid of Palmetto Bushes (http://homeguides.sfgate.com/way-rid-palmetto-bushes-52823.html)
This piece says chop it to the ground and poison it. If that doesn't work the first time try again

Kat2
03-07-2017, 11:37 PM
Sadly some of these are in areas where I can't really chop or dig. I've been working on one for a year. I cut it back a few times and each time treated it with concentrated glyosphate; right now it seems only brown. Fingers crossed it won't get "frisky" again. If only it were the real thing...I'd fill my yard with them and sell berries. ;)