Acoelorrhaphe wrightii (Griseb. & H. Wendl.) H. Wendl.

Silver Saw Palmetto

Dense clustering spiny palm to 5 m tall. Trunks slender, brown, covered with fibrous sheaths. Crownshaft absent. Leaves fan-shaped, costapalmate, green above, silvery beneath, divided to below the middle, central midrib short. Leaflets stiff, deeply divided into two. Leaf stalk with triangular backward- and forward-pointing spines. Leaf sheaths of dark brown fibres. Panicles slender, as long as or longer than the leaves. Flowers bisexual. Fruit about 1.2 cm wide, black, 1-seeded. [Paurotis wrightii (Griseb. & H. Wendl.) O.F. Cook, Acanthosabal caespitosa Prosch.]

Southern Florida, Central America and West Indies

Grows naturally in damp sandy soil and brackish swamps in lowland regions. Mainly grown in tropical and subtropical regions but successful in warm temperate zones. Needs adequate room to spread.

Stems covered with fibrous sheath; leaves green above, silvery below and with a short midrib.

NSW: Sydney (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney).

Bailey (1940).

Source: Jones, D; Spencer, R. (2005). Arecaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.