Serenoa repens
Serenoa repens
Found in pine flatwoods; maritime forests and thickets; Coastal dunes and beaches; prairies and grasslands; sandhills; florida scrub. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 35%
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to average
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 67 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Evergreen scrub oaks, sand pine and rosemary on deep, white, drought-prone sand ridges, burned rarely but intensely; distinct from the longleaf and turkey oak sandhills.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 258 animals.
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Swallow-tailed KiteElanoides forficatus
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Serenoa
- Atheloca subrufellaPalm Bud Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Euphyes arpaPalmetto Skipper
- Homaledra heptathalamaExclamation Moth
- Homaledra sabalellaPalm Leaf Skeletonizer
- Litoprosopus futilisCabbage Palm Caterpillar, Palmetto Borer
- Pleuroprucha asthenariaAsthene Wave
- Batrachedra decoctor
- Homaledra howardi
- Homaledra knudsoni
Show all 11
- Melanocinclis vibex
26BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Serenoa
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
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Serenoa
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
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
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S4S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL 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
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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

























