Dwarf Palmetto
Sabal minor
Found in swamps; maritime forests and thickets; moist forests; hardwood and oak flatwoods; freshwater marshes. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 2–10 feet
- Spread
- 4–6 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to standing water
Space about 5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 4 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- May to July
- Fruiting season
- September to November
Recorded in 38 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 152 animals.
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
Who uses this plant?
8CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Sabal
- Atheloca subrufellaPalm Bud Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Euphyes arpaPalmetto Skipper
- Homaledra heptathalamaExclamation Moth
- Homaledra sabalellaPalm Leaf Skeletonizer
- Litoprosopus futilisCabbage Palm Caterpillar, Palmetto Borer
- Seirarctia echoEcho Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
30BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Sabal
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sabal
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Arecaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–10b
- Soil pH
- Neutral to alkaline
- Flower color
- Cream or white
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Gray-green
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Gray-green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 7a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–10 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Frequent standing water; Moist; Occasionally dry; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “4–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications