Dwarf Palmetto

Size, growth and what to expect

Dwarf palmetto grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a clump 4 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide, and it seldom suckers. Each fan runs 1 to 5 feet across on a smooth stalk with no teeth, split into narrow, stiff segments.

Branched stalks up to 6 feet long carry small, fragrant, creamy white flowers from May to July, well above the leaves. Shiny black berries about a third of an inch across ripen from September to November. Robins, raccoons and many other birds and mammals eat them.

It grows wild from North Carolina south to Florida and west to Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and into northeastern Mexico. Its home is swamps, floodplains, levees, river banks and moist hammocks, and in central Texas even dry hillsides. NatureServe ranks it imperiled in Oklahoma, at the northwest edge of its range.

How to grow Dwarf Palmetto

Dwarf palmetto is a trunkless palm for part shade, and it also grows in full sun or shade. It wants a rich, moist soil and takes poor drainage, standing water and short floods. Once rooted it rides out dry spells, though the leaf tips may brown. It takes some salty wind but not direct salt spray. In zone 7, give it a spot sheltered from winter winds. Set plants 4 feet apart and keep them 4 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the base of the plant at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stem. Clean the pulp off the seed and never let it dry. Sow it in fall, half an inch to an inch deep, in a moist, muddy bed. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 30 days first. It is slow, and some seed takes up to two years to sprout.

Water weekly through the first two summers unless the ground stays wet, since it needs plenty of water while it settles in. Mulch around the base before winter. Deer seldom damage it.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Native bees, honeybees and wasps carry the pollen. It has no serious pest or disease.