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Saw Palmetto is a native of the coastal dunes of the southeastern
United States. It currently grows in every county in Florida. Native Americans
have long consumed the fruit of this tree, harvested honey from its flowers,
and made serviceable brooms from the fanlike branches of this palm. The
palm-heart or terminal bud of the saw palmetto makes an excellent salad or
cooked vegetable. All parts of the plant are known for it's health properties.
A number of recent studies suggest that extracts of the plant may be beneficial
in the management of specific health concerns. |
| Saw palmetto is usually a horizontal plant. It branches beneath the
soil surface or it runs more or less along the surface. It commonly forms low
thickets. In some places it occurs in intricate systems of more or less
continuous colonies. Thickets can reach a height of 9-10 feet. Each leaf is
quite long, each petiole reaching 3 feet in length or more. |
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During spring, saw-palmetto plants produce one to
three prominent clusters of many white flowers, and the fruit matures during
summer. These flowers are insect-pollinated and are used extensively by
honeybees. The fruit is a single-seeded drupe. As ripening occurs, fruits turn
in color from green (May), to yellow, to orange, and then to bluish-black
(September-October) when ripe. The flowers appear on branched stalks about the
length of a leaf. Saw Palmetto Honey is thick, and opaque with a moderate
amount of honey crystals. It has a citrus flavor with woody overtones. It
produces a light yellow to amber honey, with a thinner body than most honeys.
Saw Palmetto is a rich yellow color, often considered the best in Florida.
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