CABBAGE PALMETTO; CABBAGE TREE (Sabal Palmetto, It' & S.). 20 to 40 feet. Stout trunk crowned with leaves that form a round head. Bark broken into irregular plates by shallow fissures. Wood light, soft, pale brown, with hard, tough, fibro-vascular bundles; rind thick, of lighter, more por ous texture than the heart wood. Leaves 5 to 6 feet long, 7 to 8 feet broad, on stems 6 to 7 feet long, and is inches wide at apex. Petiole widening to base, hollowed to fit stem, split by the enlargement of the trunk, around which they are sheathed in an interlaced pattern like basketwork. Leaf blades of many narrow, pointed segments, split apart below the middle of the blade, folded double, frayed out in threads toward tip. New leaves constantly developed from the cen tral bud of the stem, and oldest ones become pendant and die, leaving the trunk smooth, by the detachment of the split petiole bases. Flowers in June, on branched stalk 2 to el feet
long, from sheath of protecting scales, set in axils of leaves. Individual flowers perfect, tubular, crowded on branches of the stalk. Ovary 3-celled. Fruit few, globular, dark-colored, 3-lobed, dry-fleshed, sweet berries, in early fall; seeds soli tary, brown, almost as large as the pea-sized berry. Dist.: Sandy soil near coast from North Carolina to the Florida Keys; following up the Gulf coast to the Appalachicola River. Leaves used for thatching houses, and in basketry. Stems yield fibre for brushes. Trunks used for piles in wharfing, canes, and other articles. Heart bud eaten boiled or as a salad. Planted as an ornamental and street tree in the South.