Dec. 15, 2008

Species of palm found growing in Cherokee County

By Roy Mitchell

In addition to its crappie fishing, fertile farmland, and close-knit football communities, Cherokee County has another unique but lesser known distinction. Members of the Southeastern Palm Society have documented Cherokee County as supporting what may be the nation's northernmost stands of palm trees. The particular palm species confirmed in Cherokee County is the sabal minor, more commonly known as the Dwarf Palmetto.

Though most palms species are native to tropical and subtropical climates, reports of native palm sightings in northeastern Alabama's Coosa Valley flood plain have brought members of the Southeastern Palm Society to Centre to search for the palmetto. During their initial visits, they located the palmettos -- typically more bush than tree -- in the woods near the old Centre airport and around the Ball Play community. But they were unaware of the palm's existence near McCord's Crossroads until they heard from Tim McCord.

McCord, a resident of eastern Cherokee County, first observed this naturally growing palm across the road from his house 20 or more years ago. He surmised that the seeds of the plant originally came from birds traveling up from tropical areas.

“Though I did have a fascination with palms, it was still just a plant out in the woods to me,” he said. “It was when I got in contact with the Southeastern Palm Society in 2007 that I began to realize that there was something rare and special about these plants.”

Tim convinced a few Palm Society members to come back to Cherokee County, check out the patch of wild palms on his property, and search for more. They confirmed the existence of McCord's palmetto and searched the woods, hoping to find more palms.

McCord described the search: “Once the guys came down, they looked at a topographic map and picked out some areas where they thought the palms might be. They looked for the flood plains and went from there.”

Encouraged that the McCord's Crossroads find was only a couple of miles from the state line, the palm enthusiasts decidedly had Georgia on their mind.

“These guys really hoped to find some palms in Georgia.” McCord said. “Naturally growing palmetto hasn't been spotted in Georgia near the Coosa River flood plain yet.”

“The native habitat that these palms favor is abundantly present in western portions of Floyd County, Georgia, in some cases within less than a mile to the east of patches of these palms in Cherokee County,” said Alex Woollcott, one of the Palm Society searchers.

Woollcott and the other palm enthusiasts failed to find any palms near the George and Buttermilk roads in extreme western Floyd County, nor did they discover any in the Kirk's Grove area back in Alabama, but Tim and the Palm Society searchers feel certain that more palms exist both in Cherokee County and across the state line in Georgia.

McCord is hoping residents in Cherokee County and Floyd County will contact him if they locate any other palmettos. These palms, which typically grow up to five feet tall, are characterized by bright green fan-shaped fronds atop long-leafed stalks, such as one might see on a palm tree.

“This time of year is a great time to spot sabal minor, when much of the rest of the vegetation has lost leaves for the winter,” Woollcott said.

McCord said the Southeastern Palm Society's interest in locating palmettos in the county is more for documentation than preservation.

“It is not our main goal to protect them or the land where they grow, but we wish that you would,” he said. “We are only trying to document their native range.”

McCord, who is now a member of the Southeastern Palm Society, estimates that of thousands of different varieties of palms, mostly seven or eight will grow in this area.

“The sabal minors and the needle palms are the only ones that will grow in the wild here.”

As is evidenced by the sight of his yard, McCord should know about tropical plants surviving in north Alabama.

“I have orange trees planted in a greenhouse behind my house, and I have planted several palm trees on my property from seedlings I've gathered from Florida,” he said. “I probably have about five different varieties in the ground with several others in pots that may be put in the ground at some point.”

Anyone who thinks they have discovered palmetto in the Cherokee County vicinity may contact Tim McCord at 256-475-3576 or send e-mail to tmjm@tds.net.