| Sabal etonia | |
|---|---|
| Sabal etonia at Archbold Biological Station, Florida, United States | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Arecales |
| Family: | Arecaceae |
| Subfamily: | Coryphoideae |
| Tribe: | Sabaleae |
| Genus: | Sabal |
| Species: | S. etonia |
| Binomial name | |
| Sabal etonia Swingle ex Nash |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Sabal adansonii var. megacarpa Chapm. |
|
Sabal etonia, commonly known as the scrub palmetto is a species of palm which is endemic to Florida and southeast Georgia.
Sabal etonia is a fan palm with a solitary stem that is usually subterranean but is sometimes above ground and up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall. Plants usually have 4–7 costapalmate leaves, each with 25–50 leaflets. The inflorescences, which are branched with a bushy appearance, are shorter than the leaves and bear brownish-black fruit. The fruit are 0.9–1.5 centimetres (0.4–0.6 in) and 0.8–1.3 centimetres (0.3–0.5 in) in diameter.[2]
Sabal is placed in the subfamily Coryphoideae and the tribe Sabaleae.[3] As of 2008, there appear to be no molecular phylogenetic studies of Sabal.[3]
The species was first described by American botanist Walter Tennyson Swingle in 1896, based on collections made near Eustis, Florida in 1894.[4]