Family: Arecaceae
Group: Monocot
Substrate:
Terrestrial
Habit:
Tree
Perennation:
Perennial
Native Range: Peninsular Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America; widely cultivated and naturalized outside of its natural range. In Florida, native to freshwater swamps from southern Miami-Dade County to southern Collier County. Originally described from plants growing along the banks of the St. John’s River near Lake George (
William F. Bartram 1791, p. 113-114; Small 1933), but never reported again from that area.
NatureServe Global Status:
Imperiled
State of Florida Status:
Endangered
Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status:
Imperiled
IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status:
Rare
Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida
SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence:
Present
SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status:
Native
SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status:
Cultivated
Comments: For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the
Exploring Florida website.
Synonyms:
Roystonea elata.
FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence:
Present
FLORIDA KEYS Native Status:
Not Native, Cultivated Only
Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys
Florida Keys History and Distribution: Reported in 1907 by C.F. Millspaugh as cultivated in the lower sandy Keys. Also reported as "perhaps introduced" in the lower sandy Keys by John Kunkel Small in 1913. All of our records are from cultivated plants or plants persisting from cultivation. However, it would not be unexpected for this to naturalize in the Florida Keys, where it is widely cultivated.
