The Secret Gardeners of Washington, D. C.,& Vicinity

The Needle Palm - Rhapidophyllum hystrix, and Sabal minor , the Dwarf Palmetto 8' Needle Palm in Washington's National Arboretum
The Needle Palm is native to scattered botttomlands from southeast SC west to southern MS. It does not reproduce well, and is on the Federal Endangered Species List. But it is also the hardiest palm in the world. There are Needle Palms growing in Cape Cod, Toronto, and Pittsburgh. It is quite hardy in our area, and deserves to be much more popular than it is. It gets its name from the sharp 4' needles growing from the stem. Wear heavy work gloves when you weed around these!
The Dwarf Palmetto, Sabal minor, is native from northeastern NC to southeastern OK. It is much more common than the Needle Palm, and is ubiquitous in southern swamps and bottomlands. It is the second hardiest palm in the world, and is also quite hardy here in D. C.
Both of these palms are very slow growers.
At right is a large 8' Needle Palm, in the National Arboretum's Asian Section. It is as large as Needles growing in their native habitat.
More Needle and Sabal Palm pictures - Click on the thumbnails to see the full-size photos
Small Needle Palms in the author's garden

5' Needle Palm in Brookside Gardens, Wheaton MD

4' Needle Palm at the corner of 15th and P sts., NW, Washington, D. C.

Juvenal Dwarf Palmetto in the author's garden

Another photo of the 8' Needle Palm at the National Arboretum

The impressive specimens of the Needle Palm at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, at 15th & P Sts., and above all at the National Arboretum, should be seen to be appreciated. There was a specimen of the Dwarf Palmetto at the National Botanical Garden on the Mall, before the present construction.