The Cabbage palm is a medium-sized, spineless tree that can reach up to 80 feet high in the wild, but usually seen smaller about 40-50 feet  tall. It has slow growth rate.

The Sabal palm has a straight, gray to brown, covered with a striking pattern of old leaf bases (also known as boots) trunk and a small, 10-15 feet wide, circular crown of fan-shapes leaves. Because the Cabbage palmetto looks like a telephone pole from a distance, sometimes it is called a Hat palm. On older species leaf bases slough of the tree and reveals a smooth appearance of the trunk. Often the upper part of the trunk is covered with boots, and the lower part is smooth. Some species never lose their boots and remain covered with old leaf bases from the top to the bottom. Young species don’t have a trunk. They start to form a trunk in about 10 years after planting.

The leaves are up to 6 feet in width, costapalmate, recurved, arching backwards, medium green to yellow-green in color. They emerge directly from the trunk. The petioles are spineless and smooth and longer than blades.

The Cabbage palm produces 4-5 feet long branched inflorescence  with tiny yellow-white flowers. The flowers are transfered into round, 0.5 inch in diameter, black fruits. The fruits are imporant source of food for wildlife (birds, raccoons, squirrels).

See also: Date palm

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